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UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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Sunshine  Murphy 


LADDIE 
A  TRUE  BLUE  STORY 


Books  by 
GENE  STRATTON-PORTER 

The  Song  of  the  Cardinal 

Freckles 

What  I  Have  Done  with  Birds 

At  the  Foot  of  the  Rainbow 

A  Girl  of  the  Limberlost 

Birds  of  the  Bible 

The  Harvester 

Laddie 

Moths  of  the  Limberlost 

Music  of  the  Wild 

Michael  O'Halloran 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://archive.org/details/laddieOOstratton 


"You  are  carrying  it  to  Laddie,  I'll  be  bound 


BY 

GENE  STRATTON-PORTER 


PFE; 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  S( 


LADDIE 


Si^S 


BY 

GENE  STRATTON-PORTER 


ILLUSTRATED  BT 

HERMAN  PFEIFER 


f'Zi-iy 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1916 


Copyright,  1913,  by 
Doubled  ay,  Page  &  Compant 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of 

translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


TO 

LEANDER  ELLIOT  STRATTON 

**THE  WAY  TO  BE  HAPPY  IS  TO  BE  GOOD* 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

PAGE 

I. 

Little  Sister 

3 

II. 

Our  Angel  Boy 

•       33 

III. 

Mr.  Pryor's  Door 

.       69 

IV. 

The  Last  Day  in  Eden .... 

•       99 

V. 

The  First  Day  of  School 

■     123 

VI. 

The  Wedding  Gown      .... 

■     143 

VII. 

When  Sally  Married  Peter  . 

161 

VIII. 

The  Shropshire  and  the  Crusader 

199 

IX. 

"Even  So" 

226 

X. 

Laddie  Takes  the  Plunge 

259 

XL 

Keeping  Christmas  Our  Way 

295 

XII. 

The  Horn  of  the  Hunter 

319 

XIII. 

The  Garden  of  the  Lord 

358 

XIV. 

The  Crest  of  Eastbrooke 

400 

XV. 

Laddie,  the  Princess,  and  the  Pie 

427 

XVI. 

The  Homing  Pigeon       .... 

449 

XVII. 

In  Faith  Believing         .... 

483 

XVIII. 

The  Pryor  Mystery 

523 

CHARACTERS 

Laddie,  Who  Loved  and  Asked  No  Questions. 

The  Princess,  From  the  House  of  Mystery. 

Leon,  Our  Angel  Child. 

Little  Sister,  Who  Tells  What  Happened. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanton,  Who  Faced  Life  Shoulder  to 
Shoulder. 

Sally  and  Peter,  Who  Married  Each  Other. 

Elizabeth,  Shelley,  May  and  Other  Stanton  Children. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pryor,  Father  and  Mother  of  the  Princess. 

Robert  Paget,  a  Chicago  Lawyer. 

Mrs.  Freshett,  Who  Offered  Her  Life  for  Her  Friend. 

Candace,  the  Cook. 

Miss  Amelia,  the  School  Mistress. 

Interested  Relatives,  Friends,  and  Neighbours. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"'You  are  carrying  it  to  Laddie,  I'll  be  bound"5 

Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

"He  caught  her  hands  and  held  them  tight,  and 
looked  straight  into  her  eyes" 140 

"There  was  only  one  thing  to  do  and  I  did  it" .        .      344 

"'Well,  if  you  two  ain't  drawed  a  bead  on  each 
other'"  " 528 


LADDIE 

A  TRUE  BLUE  STORY 


LADDIE 

A  TRUE  BLUE  STORY 

CHAPTER  I 
Little  Sister 

"And  could  another  child-world  be  my  share, 
I'd  be  a  Little  Sister  there." 

"AVE  I  got  a  Little  Sister  anywhere  in  this 
house?"  inquired  Laddie  at  the  door,  in  his 
most  coaxing  voice. 
'Yes  sir,'*  I  answered,  dropping  the  trousers  I  was  mak- 
ing for  Hezekiah,  my  pet  bluejay,  and  running  as  fast 
as  I  could.  There  was  no  telling  what  minute  May  might 
take  it  into  her  head  that  she  was  a  little  sister  and  reach 
him  first.  Maybe  he  wanted  me  to  do  something  for  him, 
and  I  loved  to  wait  on  Laddie. 

"Ask  mother  if  you  may  go  with  me  a  while." 
"Mother  doesn't  care  where  I  am,  if  I  come  when  the 
supper  bell  rings." 

"All  right!"  said  Laddie. 

He  led  the  way  around  the  house,  sat  on  the  front  step 
and  took  me  between  his  knees. 

"Oh,  is  it  going  to  be  a  secret?"  I  cried. 
Secrets  with  Laddie  were  the  greatest  joy  in  life.     He 

3 


4  LADDIE 

was  so  big  and  so  handsome.  He  was  so  much  nicer  than 
any  one  else  in  our  family,  or  among  our  friends,  that  to 
share  his  secrets,  run  his  errands,  and  love  him  blindly 
was  the  greatest  happiness.  Sometimes  I  disobeyed 
father  and  mother;  I  minded  Laddie  like  his  right  hand. 

"The  biggest  secret  yet,"  he  said  gravely. 

"Tell  quick!"  I  begged,  holding  my  ear  to  his  lips. 

"Not  so  fast!"  said  Laddie.  "Not  so  fast!  I  have 
doubts  about  this.  I  don't  know  that  I  should  send  you. 
Possibly  you  can't  find  the  way.  You  may  be  afraid. 
Above  all,  there  is  never  to  be  a  whisper.  Not  to  any 
one!     Do  you  understand?" 

"What's  the  matter?"  I  asked. 

"Something  serious,"  said  Laddie.  "You  see,  I  ex- 
pected to  have  an  hour  or  two  for  myself  this  afternoon, 
so  I  made  an  engagement  to  spend  the  time  with  a  Fairy 
Princess  in  our  Big  Woods.  Father  and  I  broke  the 
reaper  taking  it  from  the  shed  just  now  and  you  know 
how  he  is  about  Fairies." 

I  did  know  how  he  was  about  Fairies.  He  hadn't  a 
particle  of  patience  with  them.  A  Princess  would  be  the 
Queen's  daughter.  My  father's  people  were  English, 
and  I  had  heard  enough  talk  to  understand  that.  I  was 
almost  wild  with  excitement. 

"Tell  me  the  secret,  hurry!"  I  cried. 

"It's  just  this,"  he  said.  "It  took  me  a  long  time  to 
coax  the  Princess  into  our  Big  Woods.  I  had  to  fix  a 
throne  for  her  to  sit  on;  spread  a  Magic  Carpet  for  her 
feet,  and  build  a  wall  to  screen  her.  Now,  what  is  she 
going  to  think  if  I'm  not  there  to  welcome  her  when  she 


LITTLE  SISTER  5 

comes?     She  promised  to  show  me  how  to  make  sun- 
shine on  dark  days." 

"Tell  father  and  he  can  have  Leon  help  him." 

"But  it  is  a  secret  with  the  Princess,  and  it's  hers  as 
much  as  mine.  If  I  tell,  she  may  not  like  it,  and  then 
she  won't  make  me  her  Prince  and  send  me  on  her  er- 
rands." 

"Then  you  don't  dare  tell  a  breath,"  I  said. 

"Will  you  go  in  my  place,  and  carry  her  a  letter  to 
explain  why  I'm  not  coming,  Little  Sister?" 

"Of  course!"  I  said  stoutly,  and  then  my  heart  turned 
right  over;  for  I  never  had  been  in  our  Big  Woods  alone, 
and  neither  mother  nor  father  wanted  me  to  go.  Passing 
Gypsies  sometimes  laid  down  the  fence  and  went  there  to 
camp.  Father  thought  all  the  wolves  and  wildcats  were 
gone,  he  hadn't  seen  any  in  years,  but  every  once  in 
a  while  some  one  said  they  had,  and  he  was  not  quite  sure 
yet.  And  that  wasn't  the  beginning  of  it.  Paddy  Ryan 
had  come  back  from  the  war  wrong  in  his  head.  He  wore 
his  old  army  overcoat  summer  and  winter,  slept  on  the 
ground,  and  ate  whatever  he  could  find.  Once  Laddie 
and  Leon,  hunting  squirrels  to  make  broth  for  mother  on 
one  of  her  bad  days,  saw  him  in  our  Big  Woods  and  he  was 
eating  snakes.  If  I  found  Pat  Ryan  eating  a  snake,  it 
would  frighten  me  so  I  would  stand  still  and  let  him  eat 
me,  if  he  wanted  to,  and  perhaps  he  wasn't  too  crazy  to  see 
how  plump  I  was.  I  seemed  to  see  swarthy,  dark  faces, 
big,  sleek  cats  dropping  from  limbs,  and  Paddy  Ryan's 
matted  gray  hair,  the  flying  rags  of  the  old  blue  coat, 
and  a  snake  in  his  hands.     Laddie  was  slipping  the  letter 


6  LADDIE 

into  my  apron  pocket.  My  knees  threatened  to  let  me 
down. 

"Must  I  lift  the  leaves  and  hunt  for  her,  or  will  she  come 
to  me?"  I  wavered. 

"That's  the  biggest  secret  of  all,"  said  Laddie.  "Since 
the  Princess  entered  them,  our  woods  are  Enchanted,  and 
there  is  no  telling  what  wonderful  things  may  happen  any 
minute.  One  of  them  is  this:  whenever  the  Princess 
comes  there,  she  grows  in  size  until  she  is  as  big  as,  say 
our  Sally,  and  she  fills  all  the  place  with  glory,  until  you 
are  so  blinded  you  scarcely  can  see  her  face." 

"What  is  she  like,  Laddie?"  I  questioned,  so  filled  with 
awe  and  interest,  that  fear  was  forgotten. 

"She  is  taller  than  Sally,"  said  Laddie.  "Her  face  is 
oval,  and  her  cheeks  are  bright.  Her  eyes  are  big  moonlit 
pools  of  darkness,  and  silken  curls  fall  over  her  shoulders. 
One  hair  is  strong  enough  for  a  lifeline  that  will  draw  a 
drowning  man  ashore,  or  strangle  an  unhappy  one.  But 
you  will  not  see  her.  I'm  purposely  sending  you  early,  so 
you  can  do  what  you  are  told  and  come  back  to  me  before 
she  even  reaches  the  woods." 

"What  am  I  to  do,  Laddie?" 

"You  must  put  one  hand  in  your  apron  pocket  and  take 
the  letter  in  it,  and  as  long  as  you  hold  it  tight,  nothing  in  the 
world  can  hurt  you.  Go  out  our  lane  to  the  Big  Woods, 
climb  the  gate  and  walk  straight  back  the  wagon  road  to  the 
water.  When  you  reach  that,  you  must  turn  to  your  right 
and  go  toward  Hoods'  until  you  come  to  the  pawpaw  thicket. 
Go  around  that,  look  ahead,  and  you'll  see  the  biggest  beech 
tree  you  ever  saw.     You  know  a  beech,  don't  you?" 


LITTLE  SISTER  7 

"Of  course  I  do,"  I  said  indignantly.  "Father  taught 
me  beech  with  the  other  trees." 

"Well  then,"  said  Laddie,  "straight  before  you  will  be 
a  purple  beech,  and  under  it  is  the  throne  of  the  Princess, 
the  Magic  Carpet,  and  the  walls  I  made.  Among  the 
beech  roots  there  is  a  stone  hidden  with  moss.  Roll  the 
stone  back  and  there  will  be  a  piece  of  bark.  Lift  that, 
lay  the  letter  in  the  box  you'll  find,  and  scamper  to  me 
like  flying.     I'll  be  at  the  barn  with  father." 

"Is  that  all?" 

"Not  quite,"  said  Laddie.  "It's  possible  that  the 
Fairy  Queen  may  have  set  the  Princess  spinning  silk  for 
the  caterpillars  to  weave  their  little  houses  with  this 
winter;  and  if  she  has,  she  may  have  left  a  letter  there  to 
tell  me.  If  there  is  one,  put  it  in  your  pocket,  hold  it 
close  every  step  of  the  way,  and  you'll  be  safe  coming 
home  as  you  were  going.  But  you  mustn't  let  a  soul  see 
it;  you  must  slip  it  into  my  pocket  when  I'm  not  looking. 
If  you  let  any  one  see,  then  the  Magic  will  be  spoiled,  and 
the  Fairy  won't  come  again." 

"No  one  shall  see,"  I  promised. 

"I  knew  you  could  be  trusted,"  said  Laddie,  kissing 
and  hugging  me  hard.  "Now  go!  If  anything  gets  after 
you  that  such  a  big  girl  as  you  really  wouldn't  be  ashamed 
to  be  afraid  of,  climb  on  a  fence  and  call.  I'll  be  listening, 
and  I'll  come  flying.  Now  I  must  hurry.  Father  will 
think  it's  going  to  take  me  the  remainder  of  the  day  to 
find  the  bolts  he  wants." 

We  went  down  the  front  walk  between  the  rows  of 
hollyhocks  and  tasselled  lady-slippers,  out  the  gate,  and 


8  LADDIE 

followed  the  road.  Laddie  held  one  of  my  hands  tight, 
and  in  the  other  I  gripped  the  letter  in  my  pocket.  So 
long  as  Laddie  could  see  me,  and  the  lane  lay  between  open 
fields,  I  wasn't  afraid.  I  was  thinking  so  deeply  about 
our  woods  being  Enchanted,  and  a  tiny  Fairy  growing  big 
as  our  Sally,  because  she  was  in  them,  that  I  stepped  out 
bravely. 

Every  few  days  I  followed  the  lane  as  far  back  as  the 
Big  Gate.  This  stood  where  four  fields  cornered,  and 
opened  into  the  road  leading  to  the  woods.  Beyond  it, 
I  had  walked  on  Sunday  afternoons  with  father,  while 
he  taught  me  all  the  flowers,  vines,  and  bushes  he  knew, 
only  he  didn't  know  some  of  the  prettiest  ones;  I  had  to 
have  books  for  them,  and  I  was  studying  to  learn  enough 
that  I  could  find  out.  Or  I  had  ridden  on  the  wagon  with 
Laddie  and  Leon  when  they  went  to  bring  wood  for  the 
cookstove,  outoven,  and  big  fireplace.  But  to  walk!  To 
go  all  alone!  Not  that  I  didn't  walk  by  myself  over  every 
other  foot  of  the  acres  and  acres  of  beautiful  land  my 
father  owned;  but  plowed  fields,  grassy  meadows,  wood 
pasture,  and  the  orchard  were  different.  I  played  in 
them  without  a  thought  of  fear. 

The  only  things  to  be  careful  about  were  a  little,  shiny, 
slender  snake,  with  a  head  as  bright  as  mother's  copper 
kettle,  and  a  big  thick  one  with  patterns  on  its  back  like 
those  in  Laddie's  geometry  books,  and  a  whole  rattlebox 
on  its  tail;  not  to  eat  any  berry  or  fruit  I  didn't  know  with- 
out first  asking  father;  and  always  to  be  sure  to  measure 
how  deep  the  water  was  before  I  waded  in  alone. 

But  our  Big  Woods!     Leon  said  the  wildcats  would 


LITTLE  SISTER  9 

get  me  there.  I  sat  in  our  catalpa  and  watched  the 
Gypsies  drive  past  every  summer.  Mother  hated  them  as 
hard  as  ever  she  could  hate  any  one,  because  once  they  had 
stolen  some  fine  shirts,  with  linen  bosoms,  that  she  had 
made  by  hand  for  father,  and  was  bleaching  on  the  grass. 
If  Gypsies  should  be  in  our  west  woods  to-day  and  steal 
me,  she  would  hate  them  worse  than  ever;  because  my 
mother  loved  me  now,  even  if  she  didn't  want  me  when  I 
was  born. 

But  you  could  excuse  her  for  that.  She  had  already 
bathed,  spanked,  sewed  for,  and  reared  eleven  babies  so  big 
and  strong  not  one  of  them  ever  even  threatened  to  die. 
When  you  thought  of  that,  you  could  see  she  wouldn't  be 
likely  to  implore  the  Almighty  to  send  her  another,  just  to 
make  her  family  even  numbers.  I  never  felt  much  hurt  at 
her,  but  some  of  the  others  I  never  have  forgiven  and  maybe 
I  never  will.  As  long  as  there  had  been  eleven  babies, 
they  should  have  been  so  accustomed  to  children  that 
they  needn't  all  of  them  have  objected  to  me,  all  except 
Laddie,  of  course.  That  was  the  reason  I  loved  him  so 
and  tried  to  do  every  single  thing  he  wanted  me  to,  just 
the  way  he  liked  it  done.  That  was  why  I  was  facing  the 
only  spot  on  our  land  where  I  was  in  the  slightest  afraid; 
because  he  asked  me  to.  If  he  had  told  me  to  dance  a  jig 
on  the  ridgepole  of  our  barn,  I  would  have  tried  it. 

So  I  clasped  the  note,  set  my  teeth,  and  climbed  over 
the  gate.  I  walked  fast  and  kept  my  eyes  straight  before 
me.  If  I  looked  on  either  side,  sure  as  life  I  would  see 
something  I  never  had  before,  and  be  down  digging  up  a 
strange  flower,  chasing  a  butterfly,  or  watching  a  bird. 


io  LADDIE 

Besides,  if  I  didn't  look  in  the  fence  corners  that  I  passed, 
maybe  I  wouldn't  see  anything  to  scare  me.  I  was  going 
along  finely,  and  feeling  better  every  minute  as  I  went 
down  the  bank  of  an  old  creek  that  had  gone  dry,  and 
started  up  the  other  side  toward  the  sugar  camp  not  far 
from  the  Big  Woods.  The  bed  was  full  of  weeds  and  as 
I  passed  through,  away!  went  Something  among  them. 

Beside  the  camp  shed  there  was  corded  wood,  and  the 
first  thing  I  knew,  I  was  on  top  of  it.  The  next,  my  hand 
was  on  the  note  in  my  pocket.  My  heart  jumped  until 
I  could  see  my  apron  move,  and  my  throat  went  all  stiff 
and  dry.  I  gripped  the  note  and  waited.  Father  be- 
lieved God  would  take  care  of  him.  I  was  only  a  little 
girl  and  needed  help  much  more  than  a  man;  maybe  God 
would  take  care  of  me.  There  was  nothing  wrong  in 
carrying  a  letter  to  the  Fairy  Princess.  I  thought  per- 
haps it  would  help  if  I  should  kneel  on  the  top  of  the  wood- 
pile and  ask  God  to  not  let  anything  get  me. 

The  more  I  thought  about  it,  the  less  I  felt  like  doing  it, 
though,  because  really  you  have  no  business  to  ask  God 
to  take  care  of  you,  unless  you  know  you  are  doing  right. 
This  was  right,  but  in  my  heart  I  also  knew  that  if  Laddie 
had  asked  me,  I  would  be  shivering  on  top  of  that  cord- 
wood  on  a  hot  August  day,  when  it  was  wrong.  On  the 
whole,  I  thought  it  would  be  more  honest  to  leave  God  out 
of  it,  and  take  the  risk  myself.  That  made  me  think  of 
the  Crusaders,  and  the  little  gold  trinket  in  father's  chest 
till.  There  were  four  shells  on  it  and  each  one  stood  for  a 
trip  on  foot  or  horseback  to  the  Holy  City  when  you  had  to 
fight  almost  every  step  of  the  way.     Those  shells  meant 


LITTLE  SISTER  n 

that  my  father's  people  had  gone  four  times,  so  he  said; 
that,  although  it  was  away  far  back,  still  each  of  us  had 
a  tiny  share  of  the  blood  of  the  Crusaders  in  our  veins,  and 
that  it  would  make  us  brave  and  strong,  and  whenever 
we  were  afraid,  if  we  would  think  of  them,  we  never  could 
do  a  cowardly  thing  or  let  any  one  else  do  one  before  us, 
He  said  any  one  with  Crusader  blood  had  to  be  brave  as 
Richard  the  Lion-hearted.  Thinking  about  that  helped 
ever  so  much,  so  I  gripped  the  note  and  turned  to  take 
one  last  look  at  the  house  before  I  made  a  dash  for  the 
gate  that  led  into  the  Big  Woods. 

Beyond  our  land  lay  the  farm  of  Jacob  Hood,  and  Mrs. 
Hood  always  teased  me  because  Laddie  had  gone  racing 
after  her  when  I  was  born.  She  was  in  the  middle  of 
Monday's  washing,  and  the  bluing  settled  in  the  rinse 
water  and  stained  her  white  clothes  in  streaks  it  took 
months  to  bleach  out.  I  always  like  Sarah  Hood  for 
coming  and  dressing  me,  though,  because  our  Sally,  who 
was  big  enough  to  have  done  it,  was  upstairs  crying  and 
wouldn't  come  down.  I  liked  Laddie  too,  because  he 
was  the  only  one  of  our  family  who  went  to  my  mother  and 
kissed  her,  said  he  was  glad,  and  offered  to  help  her.  Maybe 
the  reason  he  went  was  because  he  had  an  awful  scare, 
but  anyway  he  went,  and  that  was  enough  for  me. 

You  see  it  was  this  way:  no  one  wanted  me;  as  there 
had  been  eleven  of  us,  every  one  felt  that  was  enough. 
May  was  six  years  old  and  in  school,  and  my  mother 
thought  there  never  would  be  any  more  babies.  She  had 
given  away  the  cradle  and  divided  the  baby  clothes  among 
my  big  married  sisters  and  brothers,  and  was  having  a 


12  LADDIE 

fine  time  and  enjoying  herself  the  most  she  ever  had  in  her 
life.  The  land  was  paid  for  long  ago;  the  house  she  had 
planned,  builded  as  she  wanted  it;  she  had  a  big  team  of 
matched  grays  and  a  carriage  with  side  lamps  and  patent 
leather  trimmings;  and  sometimes  there  was  money  in 
the  bank.  I  do  not  know  that  there  was  very  much,  but 
any  at  all  was  a  marvel,  considering  how  many  of  us  there 
were  to  feed,  clothe,  and  send  to  college.  Mother  was 
forty-six  and  father  was  fifty;  so  they  felt  young  enough 
yet  to  have  a  fine  time  and  enjoy  life,  and  just  when 
things  were  going  best,  I  announced  that  I  was  halfway 
over  my  journey  to  earth. 

You  can't  blame  my  mother  so  much.  She  must  have 
been  tired  of  babies  and  disliked  to  go  back  and  begin  all 
over  after  resting  six  years.  And  you  mustn't  be  too 
hard  on  my  father  if  he  was  not  just  overjoyed.  He  felt 
sure  the  cook  would  leave,  and  she  did.  He  knew  Sally 
would  object  to  a  baby,  when  she  wanted  to  begin  having 
beaus,  so  he  and  mother  talked  it  over  and  sent  her  away 
for  a  long  visit  to  Ohio  with  father's  people,  and  never 
told  her.  They  intended  to  leave  her  there  until  I  was 
over  the  colic,  at  least.  They  knew  the  big  married 
brothers  and  sisters  would  object,  and  they  did.  They 
said  it  would  be  embarrassing  for  their  children  to  be  the 
nieces  and  nephews  of  an  aunt  or  uncle  younger  than 
themselves.  They  said  it  so  often  and  so  emphatically 
that  father  was  provoked  and  mother  cried.  Shelley 
didn't  like  it  because  she  was  going  to  school  in  Grove- 
ville,  where  Lucy,  one  of  our  married  sisters,  lived,  and 
she  was  afraid  I  would  make  so  much  work  she  would  hair 


LITTLE  SISTER  13 

to  give  up  her  books  and  friends  and  remain  at  home. 
There  never  was  a  baby  born  who  was  any  less  wanted 
than  I  was.  I  knew  as  much  about  it  as  any  one  else,  be- 
cause from  the  day  I  could  understand,  all  of  them,  father, 
mother,  Shelley,  Sarah  Hood,  every  one  who  knew,  took 
turns  telling  me  how  badly  I  was  not  wanted,  how  much 
trouble  I  made,  and  how  Laddie  was  the  only  one  who 
loved  me  at  first.  Because  of  that  I  was  on  the  cordwood 
trying  to  find  courage  to  go  farther.  Over  and  over  Lad- 
die had  told  me  himself.  He  had  been  to  visit  our  big 
sister  Elizabeth  over  Sunday  and  about  eight  o'clock 
Monday  morning  he  came  riding  down  the  road,  and  saw 
the  most  dreadful  thing.  There  was  not  a  curl  of  smoke 
from  the  chimneys,  not  a  tablecloth  or  pillowslip  on  the 
line,  not  a  blind  raised.  Laddie  said  his  heart  went — just 
like  mine  did  when  the  Something  jumped  in  the  creek 
bed,  no  doubt.     Then  he  laid  on  the  whip  and  rode. 

He  flung  the  rein  over  the  hitching  post,  leaped  the 
fence  and  reached  the  back  door.  The  young  green  girl, 
who  was  all  father  could  get  when  the  cook  left,  was 
crying.  So  were  Shelley  and  little  May,  although  she 
said  afterward  she  had  a  boil  on  her  heel  and  there  was  no 
one  to  poultice  it.  Laddie  leaned  against  the  door  casing, 
and  it  is  easy  enough  to  understand  what  he  thought. 
He  told  me  he  had  to  try  twice  before  he  could  speak,  and 
then  he  could  only  ask:  "What's  the  matter?" 

Probably  May  never  thought  she  would  have  the 
chance,  but  the  others  were  so  busy  crying  harder,  now 
that  they  had  an  audience,  that  she  was  first  to  tell  him; 
"We  have  got  a  little  sister." 


i4  LADDIE 

"Great  Day!"  cried  Laddie.  "You  made  me  think 
we  had  a  funeral!  Where  is  mother,  and  where  is  my 
Little  Sister?" 

He  went  bolting  right  into  mother's  room  and  kissed 
her  like  the  gladdest  boy  alive;  because  he  was  only  a  boy 
then,  and  he  told  her  how  happy  he  was  that  she  was  safe, 
and  then  he  asked  for  me.  He  said  I  was  the  only  living 
creature  in  that  house  who  was  not  shedding  tears,  and  I 
didn't  begin  for  about  six  months  afterward.  In  fact,  not 
until  Shelley  taught  me  by  pinching  me  if  she  had  to  rock 
the  cradle;  then  I  would  cry  so  hard  mother  would  have 
to  take  me.  He  said  he  didn't  believe  I'd  ever  have 
learned  by  myself. 

He  took  a  pillow  from  the  bed,  fixed  it  in  the  rocking 
chair  and  laid  me  on  it.  When  he  found  that  father  was 
hitching  the  horses  to  send  Leon  for  Doctor  Fenner, 
Laddie  rode  back  after  Sarah  Hood  and  spoiled  her  wash- 
ing. It  may  be  that  the  interest  he  always  took  in  me  had 
its  beginning  in  all  of  them  scaring  him  with  their  weeping; 
even  Sally,  whom  father  had  to  telegraph  to  come  home, 
was  upstairs  crying,  and  she  was  almost  a  woman.  It 
may  be  that  all  the  tears  they  shed  over  not  wanting  me 
so  scared  Laddie  that  he  went  farther  in  his  welcome  than 
he  ever  would  have  thought  of  going  if  he  hadn't  done 
it  for  joy  when  he  learned  his  mother  was  safe.  I  don't 
care  about  the  reason.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  from  the 
hour  of  my  birth  Laddie  named  me  Little  Sisrer,  seldom 
called  me  anything  else,  and  cared  for  me  all  he  possibly 
could  to  rest  mother.  He  took  me  to  the  fields  with  him 
in  the  morning  and  brought  me  back  on  the  horse  before 


LITTLE  SISTER  15 

him  at  noon.  He  could  plow  with  me  riding  the  horse, 
drive  a  reaper  with  me  on  his  knees,  and  hoe  corn  while 
I  slept  on  his  coat  in  a  fence  corner.  The  winters  he  was 
away  at  college  left  me  lonely,  and  when  he  came  back  for 
a  vacation  I  was  too  happy  for  words.  Maybe  it  was 
wrong  to  love  him  most.  I  knew  my  mother  cared  for 
and  wanted  me  now.  And  all  my  secrets  were  not  with 
Laddie.  I  had  one  with  father  that  I  was  never  to  tell  so 
long  as  he  lived,  but  it  was  about  the  one  he  loved  best, 
next  after  mother.  Perhaps  I  should  never  tell  it,  but  I 
wouldn't  be  surprised  if  the  family  knew.  I  followed 
Laddie  like  a  faithful  dog,  when  I  was  not  gripping  his 
waving  hair  and  riding  in  triumph  on  his  shoulders.  He 
never  had  to  go  so  fast  he  couldn't  take  me  on  his  back. 
He  never  was  in  too  big  a  hurry  to  be  kind.  He  always 
had  patience  to  explain  every  shell,  leaf,  bird,  and  flower 
I  asked  about.  I  was  just  as  much  his  when  pretty 
young  girls  were  around,  and  the  house  full  of  company,  as 
when  we  were  alone.  That  was  the  reason  I  was  shivering 
on  the  cordwood,  gripping  his  letter  and  thinking  of  all 
these  things  in  order  to  force  myself  to  go  farther. 

I  was  excited  about  the  Fairies  too.  I  often  had  close 
chances  of  seeing  them,  but  I  always  just  missed.  Now 
here  was  Laddie  writing  letters  and  expecting  answers; 
our  Big  Woods  Enchanted,  a  Magic  Carpet  and  the 
Queen's  daughter  becoming  our  size  so  she  could  speak 
with  him.  No  doubt  the  Queen  had  her  grow  big  as 
Shelley,  when  she  sent  her  on  an  errand  to  tell  Laddie 
about  how  to  make  sunshine;  because  she  was  afraid  if 
she  went  her  real  size  he  would  accidentally  step  on  her, 


16  LADDIE 

he  was  so  dreadfully  big.  Or  maybe  her  voice  was  so 
fine  he  could  not  hear  what  she  said.  He  had  told  me 
I  was  to  hurry,  and  I  had  gone  as  fast  as  I  could  until 
Something  jumped;  since,  I  had  been  settled  on  that 
cordwood  like  Robinson  Crusoe  on  his  desert  island. 
I  had  to  get  down  some  time;  I  might  as  well  start. 

I  gripped  the  letter,  slid  to  the  ground,  and  ran  toward 
the  big  gate  straight  before  me.  I  climbed  it,  clutched 
the  note  again,  and  ran  blindly  down  the  road  through  the 
forest  toward  the  creek.  I  could  hurry  there.  On  either 
side  of  it  I  could  not  have  run  ten  steps  at  a  time.  The 
big  trees  reached  so  high  above  me  it  seemed  as  if  they 
would  push  through  the  floor  of  Heaven.  I  tried  to  shut 
my  ears  and  run  so  fast  I  couldn't  hear  a  sound,  and  so 
going,  I  soon  came  to  the  creek  bank.  There  I  turned 
to  my  right  and  went  slower,  watching  for  the  pawpaw 
thicket.  On  leaving  the  road  I  thought  I  would  have  to 
crawl  over  logs  and  make  my  way;  but  there  seemed  to  be 
kind  of  a  path  not  very  plain,  but  travelled  enough  to 
follow.  It  led  straight  to  the  thicket.  At  the  edge  I 
stopped  to  look  for  the  beech.  It  could  be  reached  in  one 
breathless  dash,  but  there  seemed  to  be  a  green  enclosure, 
so  I  walked  around  until  I  found  an  entrance.  Once  there 
I  was  so  amazed  I  stood  and  stared.  I  was  half  indignant 
too. 

Laddie  hadn't  done  a  thing  but  make  an  exact  copy 
of  my  playhouse  under  the  biggest  maiden's-blush  in  our 
orchard.  He  used  the  immense  beech  for  one  corner, 
where  I  had  the  apple  tree.  His  Magic  Carpet  was 
woolly-dog  moss,  and  all  the  magic  about  it,  was  that 


LITTLE  SISTER  17 

on  the  damp  woods  floor,  in  the  deep  shade,  the  moss  had 
taken  root  and  was  growing  as  if  it  always  had  been  there. 
He  had  been  able  to  cut  and  stick  much  larger  willow 
sprouts  for  his  walls  than  I  could,  and  in  the  wet  black 
mould  they  didn't  look  as  if  they  ever  had  wilted.  They 
were  so  fresh  and  green,  no  doubt  they  had  taken  root  and 
were  growing.  Where  I  had  a  low  bench  under  my  tree, 
he  had  used  a  log;  but  he  had  hewed  the  top  flat,  and 
made  a  moss  cover.  In  each  corner  he  had  set  a  fern  as 
high  as  my  head.  On  either  side  of  the  entrance  he  had 
planted  a  cluster  of  cardinal  flower  that  was  in  full  bloom, 
and  around  the  walls  in  a  few  places  thrifty  bunches  of 
Oswego  tea  and  foxfire,  that  I  would  have  walked  miles 
to  secure  for  my  wild  garden  under  the  Bartlett  pear  tree. 
It  was  so  beautiful  it  took  my  breath  away. 

"If  the  Queen's  daughter  doesn't  like  this,"  I  said 
softly,  "she'll  have  to  go  to  Heaven  before  she  finds  any- 
thing better,  for  there  can't  be  another  place  on  earth  so 
pretty." 

It  was  wonderful  how  the  sound  of  my  own  voice  gave 
me  courage,  even  if  it  did  seem  a  little  strange.  So  I 
hurried  to  the  beech,  knelt  and  slipped  the  letter  in  the 
box,  and  put  back  the  bark  and  stone.  Laddie  had  said 
that  nothing  could  hurt  me  while  I  had  the  letter,  so  my 
protection  was  gone  as  soon  as  it  left  my  hands. 

There  was  nothing  but  my  feet  to  save  me  now.  I 
thanked  goodness  I  was  a  fine  runner,  and  started  for  the 
pawpaw  thicket.  Once  there,  I  paused  only  one  minute 
to  see  whether  the  way  to  the  stream  was  clear,  and  while 
standing  tense  and  gazing,  I  heard  something.     For  an 


1 8  LADDIE 

instant  it  was  every  bit  as  bad  as  at  the  dry  creek.  Then 
I  realized  that  this  was  a  soft  voice  singing,  and  I  forgot 
everything  else  in  a  glow  of  delight.  The  Princess  was 
coming! 

Never  in  all  my  life  was  I  so  surprised,  and  astonished, 
and  bewildered.  She  was  even  larger  than  our  Sally; 
her  dress  was  pale  green,  like  I  thought  a  Fairy's  should 
be;  her  eyes  were  deep  and  dark  as  Laddie  had  said,  her 
hair  hung  from  a  part  in  the  middle  of  her  forehead  over 
her  shoulders,  and  if  she  had  Leen  in  the  sun,  it  would  have 
gleamed  like  a  blackbird's  wing.  She  was  just  as  Laddie 
said  she  would  be;  she  was  so  much  more  beautiful  than 
you  would  suppose  any  woman  could  be,  I  stood  there 
dumbly  staring.  I  wouldn't  have  asked  for  any  one  more 
perfectly  beautiful  or  more  like  Laddie  had  said  the  Prin- 
cess would  be ;  but  she  was  no  more  the  daughter  of  the  Fairy 
Queen  than  I  was.  She  was  not  any  more  of  a  Princess. 
If  father  ever  would  tell  all  about  the  little  bauble  he  kept 
in  the  till  of  his  big  chest,  maybe  she  was  not  as  near!  She 
was  no  one  on  earth  but  one  of  those  new  English  people 
who  had  moved  on  the  land  that  cornered  with  ours  on 
the  northwest.  She  had  ridden  over  the  roads,  and  been 
at  our  meeting  house.     There  could  be  no  mistake. 

And  neither  father  nor  mother  would  want  her  on  our 
place.  They  didn't  like  her  or  her  family  at  all.  Mother 
called  them  the  neighbourhood  mystery,  and  father  spoke 
of  them  as  the  Infidels.  They  had  dropped  from  nowhere, 
mother  said,  bought  that  splendid  big  farm,  moved  on  and 
shut  out  every  one.  Before  any  one  knew  people  were 
shut   out,   mother,    dressed   in   her   finest,   with   Laddie 


LITTLE  SISTER  19 

driving,  went  in  the  carriage,  all  shining,  to  make  friends 
with  them.  This  very  girl  opened  the  door  and  said  that 
her  mother  was  "indisposed,"  and  could  not  see  callers. 
"In-dis-posed!"  That's  a  good  word  that  fills  your 
mouth,  but  our  mother  didn't  like  having  it  used  to  her. 
She  said  the  "saucy  chit"  was  insulting.  Then  the  man 
came,  and  he  said  he  was  very  sorry,  but  his  wife  would 
see  no  one.  He  did  invite  mother  in,  but  she  wouldn't 
go.  She  told  us  she  could  see  past  him  into  the  house  and 
there  was  such  finery  as  never  in  all  her  days  had  she  laid 
eyes  on.  She  said  he  was  mannerly  as  could  be,  but  he 
had  the  coldest,  severest  face  she  ever  saw. 

They  had  two  men  and  a  woman  servant,  and  no  one 
could  coax  a  word  from  them,  about  why  those  people 
acted  as  they  did.  They  said  'orse,  and  'ouse,  and  Heng- 
land.  They  talked  so  funny  you  couldn't  have  under- 
stood them  anyway.  They  never  plowed  or  put  in  a 
crop.  They  made  everything  into  a  meadow  and  had  more 
horses,  cattle,  and  sheep  than  a  county  fair,  and  every- 
thing you  ever  knew  with  feathers,  even  peacocks.  We 
could  hear  them  scream  whenever  it  was  going  to  rain. 
Father  said  they  sounded  heathenish.  I  rather  liked 
them.  The  man  had  stacks  of  money  or  they  couldn't 
have  lived  the  way  they  did.  He  came  to  our  house 
twice  on  business:  once  to  see  about  road  laws,  and  again 
about  tax  rates.  Father  was  mightily  pleased  at  first, 
because  Mr.  Pryor  seemed  to  have  books,  and  to  know 
everything,  and  father  thought  it  would  be  fine  to  be 
neighbours.  But  the  minute  Mr.  Pryor  finished  business 
he  began  to   argue  that   every   single  thing  father  and 


20  LADDIE 

mother  believed  was  wrong.  He  said  right  out  in  plain 
English  that  God  was  a  myth.  Father  told  him  pretty 
quickly  that  no  man  could  say  that  in  his  house;  so  he 
left  suddenly  and  had  not  been  back  since,  and  father 
didn't  want  him  ever  to  come  again. 

Then  their  neighbours  often  saw  the  woman  around 
the  house  and  garden.  She  looked  and  acted  quite  as 
well  as  any  one,  so  probably  she  was  not  half  so  sick  as 
my  mother,  who  had  nursed  three  of  us  through  typhoid 
fever,  and  then  had  it  herself  when  she  was  all  tired  out. 
She  wouldn't  let  a  soul  know  she  had  a  pain  until  she 
dropped  over  and  couldn't  take  another  step,  and  father 
or  Laddie  carried  her  to  bed.  But  she  went  everywhere, 
saw  all  her  friends,  and  did  more  good  from  her  bed  than 
any  other  woman  in  our  neighbourhood  could  on  her  feet. 
So  we  thought  mighty  little  of  those  Pryor  people 

Every  one  said  the  girl  was  pretty.  Then  her  clothes 
drove  the  other  women  crazy.  Some  of  our  neighbour- 
hood came  from  far  down  east,  like  my  mother.  Our 
people  back  a  little  were  from  over  the  sea,  and  they  knew 
how  things  should  be,  to  be  right.  Many  of  the  others 
were  from  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  and  they  were  well 
dressed,  proud,  handsome  women;  none  better  looking 
anywhere.  They  followed  the  fashions  and  spent  much 
time  and  money  on  their  clothes.  When  it  was  Quarterly 
Meeting  or  the  Bishop  dedicated  the  church  or  they  went 
to  town  on  court  days,  you  should  have  seen  them — until 
Pryors  came.  Then  something  new  happened,  and  not  a 
woman  in  our  neighbourhood  liked  it.  Pamela  Pryor 
didn't  follow  the  fashions.     She  set  them.     If  every  other 


LITTLE  SISTER  21 

woman  made  long  tight  sleeves  to  their  wrists,  she  let 
hers  flow  to  the  elbow  and  filled  them  with  silk  lining, 
ruffled  with  lace.  If  they  wore  high  neckbands,  she  had 
none,  and  used  a  flat  lace  collar.  If  they  cut  their  waists 
straight  around  and  gathered  their  skirts  on  six  yards  full, 
she  ran  hers  down  to  a  little  point  front  and  back,  that 
made  her  look  slenderer,  and  put  only  half  as  much 
goods  in  her  skirt.  Maybe  Laddie  rode  as  well  as  she 
could;  he  couldn't  manage  a  horse  any  better,  and  aside 
from  him  there  wasn't  a  man  we  knew  who  would  have 
tried  to  ride  some  of  the  animals  she  did. 

If  she  ever  worked  a  stroke,  no  one  knew  it.  All  day 
long  she  sat  in  the  parlour,  the  very  best  one,  every  day; 
or  on  benches  under  the  trees  with  embroidery  frames 
or  books,  some  of  them  fearful,  big,  difficult  looking  ones, 
or  rode  over  the  country.  She  rode  in  sunshine  and  she 
rode  in  storm,  until  you  would  think  she  couldn't  see  her 
way  through  her  tangled  black  hair.  She  rode  through 
snow  and  in  pouring  rain,  when  she  could  have  stayed  out 
of  it,  if  she  had  wanted  to.  She  didn't  seem  to  be  afraid 
of  anything  on  earth  or  in  Heaven.  Every  one  thought 
she  was  like  her  father  and  didn't  believe  there  was  any 
God;  so  when  she  came  among  us  at  church  or  any  public 
gathering,  as  she  sometimes  did,  people  were  in  no  hurry 
to  be  friendly,  while  she  looked  straight  ahead  and  never 
spoke  until  she  was  spoken  to,  and  then  she  was  precise 
and  cold,  I  tell  you. 

Men  took  off  their  hats,  got  out  of  the  road  when  she 
came  pounding  along,  and  stared  after  her  like  "be-addled 
mummies,"  my  mother  said.     But  that  was  all  she,  or 


22  LADDIE 

any  one  else,  could  say.  The  young  fellows  were  wild 
about  her,  and  if  they  tried  to  sidle  up  to  her  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  lead  her  horse  or  get  to  hold  her  foot 
when  she  mounted,  they  always  saw  when  they  reached 
her,  that  she  wasn't  there. 

But  she  was  here!  I  had  seen  her  only  a  few  times, 
but  this  was  the  Pryor  girl,  just  as  sure  as  I  would  have 
known  if  it  had  been  Sally.  What  dazed  me  was  that 
she  answered  in  every  particular  the  description  Laddie 
had  given  me  of  the  Queen's  daughter.  And  worst  of 
all,  from  the  day  she  first  came  among  us,  moving  so 
proud  and  cold,  blabbing  old  Hannah  Dover  said  she 
carried  herself  like  a  Princess — as  if  Hannah  Dover  knew 
how  a  Princess  carried  herself! — every  living  soul,  my 
father  even,  had  called  her  the  Princess.  At  first  it  was 
because  she  was  like  they  thought  a  Princess  would  be, 
but  later  they  did  it  in  meanness,  to  make  fun.  After 
they  knew  her  name,  they  were  used  to  calling  her  the 
Princess,  so  they  kept  it  up,  but  some  of  them  were  se- 
cretly proud  of  her;  because  she  could  look,  and  do,  and 
be  what  they  would  have  given  anything  to,  and  knew 
they  couldn't  to  save  them. 

I  was  never  in  such  a  fix  in  all  my  life.  She  looked 
more  as  Laddie  had  said  the  Princess  would  than  you 
would  have  thought  any  woman  could,  but  she  was 
Pamela  Pryor,  nevertheless.  Every  one  called  her  the 
Princess,  but  she  couldn't  make  reality  out  of  that.  She 
just  couldn't  be  the  Fairy  Queen's  daughter;  so  the  letter 
couldn't  possibly  be  for  her. 

She  had  no  business  in  our  woods;  you  could  see  that 


LITTLE  SISTER  23 

they  had  plenty  of  their  own.  She  went  straight  to  the 
door  of  the  willow  room  and  walked  in  as  if  she  belonged 
there.  What  if  she  found  the  hollow  and  took  Laddie's 
letter!  Fast  as  I  could  slip  over  the  leaves,  I  went  back. 
She  was  on  the  moss  carpet,  on  her  knees,  and  the  letter 
was  in  her  fingers.  It's  a  good  thing  to  have  your  manners 
soundly  thrashed  into  you.  You've  got  to  be  scared 
stiff"  before  you  forget  them.  I  wasn't  so  afraid  of  her 
as  I  would  have  been  if  I  had  known  she  was  the  Princess, 
and  have  Laddie's  letter,  she  should  not.  What  had 
the  kind  of  a  girl  she  was,  from  a  home  like  hers,  to  teach 
any  one  from  our  house  about  making  sunshine?  I  was 
at  the  willow  wall  by  that  time  peering  through,  so  I  just 
parted  it  a  little  and  said:  "Please  put  back  that  letter 
where  you  got  it.     It  isn't  for  you." 

She  knelt  on  the  mosses,  the  letter  in  her  hand,  and 
her  face,  as  she  turned  to  me,  was  rather  startled;  but 
when  she  saw  me  she  laughed,  and  said  in  the  sweetest 
voice  I  ever  heard:  "Are  you  so  very  sure  of  that?" 

"Well  I  ought  to  be,"  I  said.     "I  put  it  there." 

"Might  I  inquire  for  whom  you  put  it  there?" 

"No  ma'am!     That's  a  secret." 

You  should  have  seen  the  light  flame  in  her  eyes,  the 
red  deepen  on  her  cheeks,  and  the  little  curl  of  laughter 
that  curved  her  lips. 

"How  interesting!"  she  cried.  "I  wonder  now  if  you 
are  not  Little  Sister." 

"I  am  to  Laddie  and  our  folks,"  I  said.  "You  are  a 
stranger." 

All  the  dancing  lights  went  from  her  face.     She  looked 


24  LADDIE 

as  if  she  were  going  to  cry  unless  she  hurried  up  and 
swallowed  it  down  hard  and  fast. 

"That  is  quite  true,"  she  said.  "I  am  a  stranger. 
Do  you  know  that  being  a  stranger  is  the  hardest  thing 
that  can  happen  to  any  one  in  all  this  world  ? " 

"Then  why  don't  you  open  your  doors,  invite  your 
neighbours  in,  go  to  see  them,  and  stop  your  father  from 
saying  such  dreadful  things?" 

"They  are  not  my  doors,"  she  said,  "and  could  you 
keep  your  father  from  saying  anything  he  chooses?" 

I  stood  and  blinked  at  her.  Of  course  I  wouldn't  even 
dare  try  that. 

"I'm  so  sorry,"  was  all  I  could  think  to  say. 

I  couldn't  ask  her  to  come  to  our  house.  I  knew  no 
one  wanted  her.  But  if  I  couldn't  speak  for  the  others, 
surely  I  might  for  myself.  I  let  go  the  willows  and  went 
to  the  door.  The  Princess  arose  and  sat  on  the  seat 
Laddie  had  made  for  the  Queen's  daughter.  It  was  an 
awful  pity  to  tell  her  she  shouldn't  sit  there,  for  I  had  my 
doubts  if  the  real,  true  Princess  would  be  half  as  lovely 
when  she  came — if  she  ever  did.  Some  way  the  Princess, 
who  was  not  a  Princess,  appeared  so  real,  I  couldn't  keep 
from  becoming  confused  and  forgetting  that  she  was  only 
just  Pamela  Pryor.  Already  the  lovely  lights  had  gone 
from  her  face  until  it  made  me  so  sad  I  wanted  to  cry,  and 
I  was  no  easy  cry-baby  either.  If  I  couldn't  offer  friend- 
ship for  my  family  I  would  for  myself. 

"You  may  call  me  Little  Sister,  if  you  like,"  I  said.  "I 
won't  be  a  stranger." 

"Why  how  lovely!"  cried  the  Princess. 


LITTLE  SISTER  25 

You  should  have  seen  the  dancing  lights  fly  back  to 
her  eyes.  Probably  you  won't  believe  this,  but  the  first 
thing  I  knew  I  was  beside  her  on  the  throne,  her  arm  was 
around  me,  and  it's  the  gospel  truth  that  she  hugged  me 
tight.  I  just  had  sense  enough  to  reach  over  and  pick 
Laddie's  letter  from  her  fingers,  and  then  I  was  on  her 
side.  I  don't  know  what  she  did  to  me,  but  all  at  once 
I  knew  that  she  was  dreadfully  lonely;  that  she  hated  be- 
ing a  stranger;  that  she  was  sorry  enough  to  cry  because 
their  house  was  one  of  mystery,  and  that  she  would  open 
the  door  if  she  could. 

"I  like  you,"  I  said,  reaching  up  to  touch  her  curls. 

I  never  had  seen  her  that  I  did  not  want  to.  They  were 
like  I  thought  they  would  be.  Father  and  Laddie  and 
some  of  us  had  wavy  hair,  but  hers  was  crisp — and  it 
clung  to  your  fingers,  and  wrapped  around  them  and 
seemed  to  tug  at  your  heart  like  it  does  when  a  baby 
grips  you.  I  drew  away  my  hand,  and  the  hair  stretched 
out  until  it  was  long  as  any  of  ours,  and  then  curled  up 
again,  and  you  could  see  that  no  tins  had  stabbed  into 
her  head  to  make  those  curls.  I  began  trying  to  single 
out  one  hair. 

"What  are  you  doing?"  she  asked. 

"I  want  to  know  if  only  one  hair  is  strong  enough  to 
draw  a  drowning  man  from  the  water  or  strangle  an  un- 
happy one,"  I  said. 

"Believe  me,  no!"  cried  the  Princess.  "It  would  take 
all  I  have,  woven  into  a  rope,  to  do  that." 

"Laddie  knows  curls  that  just  one  hair  of  them  is 
strong  enough,"  I  boasted. 


26  LADDIE 

"I  wonder  now!"  said  the  Princess.  "I  think  he  must 
have  been  making  poetry  or  telling  Fairy  tales." 

"He  was  telling  the  truth,'*  I  assured  her.  "Father 
doesn't  believe  in  Fairies,  and  mother  laughs,  but  Laddie 
and  I  know.     Do  you  believe  in  Fairies?" 

"Of  course  I  do!"  she  said. 

"Then  you  know  that  this  could  be  an  Enchanted  Wood  ? " 

"I  have  found  it  so,"  said  the  Princess. 

"And  maybe  this  is  a  Magic  Carpet?" 

"It  surely  is  a  Magic  Carpet." 

"And  you  might  be  the  daughter  of  the  Queen?  Your 
eyes  are  'moonlit  pools  of  darkness.'  If  only  your  hair 
were  stronger,  and  you  knew  about  making  sunshine!" 

"Maybe  it  is  stronger  than  I  think.  It  never  has  been 
tested.  Perhaps  I  do  know  about  making  sunshine. 
Possibly  I  am  as  true  as  the  wood  and  the  carpet." 

I  drew  away  and  stared  at  her.  The  longer  I  looked 
the  more  uncertain  I  became.  Maybe  her  mother  was 
the  Queen.  Perhaps  that  was  the  mystery.  It  might 
be  the  reason  she  didn't  want  the  people  to  see  her. 
Maybe  she  was  so  busy  making  sunshine  for  the  Princess 
to  bring  to  Laddie  that  she  had  no  time  to  sew  carpet 
rags,  and  to  go  to  quiltings,  and  funerals,  and  make  visits. 
It  was  hard  to  know  what  to  think. 

"I  wish  you'd  tell  me  plain  out  if  you  are  the  Queen's 
daughter,"  I  said.  "It's  most  important.  You  can't 
have  this  letter  unless  I  know.  It's  the  very  first  time 
Laddie  ever  trusted  me  with  a  letter,  and  I  just  can't  give 
it  to  the  wrong  person." 

"Then  why  don't  you  leave  it  where  he  told  you?** 


LITTLE  SISTER  27 

"  But  you  have  gone  and  found  the  place.  You  started 
to  take  it  once;  you  would  again,  soon  as  I  left.'* 

"Look  me  straight  in  the  eyes,  Little  Sister,'*  said  the 
Princess  softly.  "Am  I  like  a  person  who  would  take 
anything  that  didn't  belong  to  her?" 

"No!"  I  said  instantly. 

"How  do  you  think  I  happened  to  come  to  this  place?" 

"Maybe  our  woods  are  prettier  than  yours." 

"How  do  you  think  I  knew  where  the  letter  was?" 

I  shook  my  head. 

"If  I  show  you  some  others  exactly  like  the  one  you 
have  there,  then  will  you  believe  that  is  for  me?" 

"Yes,"  I  answered. 

I  believed  it  anyway.  It  just  seemed  so,  the  better 
you  knew  her.  The  Princess  slipped  her  hand  among  the 
folds  of  the  trailing  pale  green  skirt,  and  from  a  hidden 
pocket  drew  other  letters  exactly  like  the  one  I  held. 
She  opened  one  and  ran  her  finger  along  the  top  line 
and  I  read,  "To  the  Princess,"  and  then  she  pointed  to 
the  ending  and  it  was  merely  signed,  "Laddie,"  but  all 
the  words  written  between  were  his  writing.  Slowly 
I  handed  her  the  letter. 

"You  don't  want  me  to  have  it?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,"  I  said.  "I  want  you  to  have  it  if  Laddie  wrote 
it  for  you — but  mother  and  father  won't,  not  at  all." 

"What  makes  you  think  so?'"'  she  asked  gently. 

"Don't  you  know  what  people  say  about  you?" 

"Some  of  it,  perhaps." 

"Well?" 

"Do  you  think  it  is  true?" 


28  LADDIE 

"Not  that  you're  stuck  up,  and  hateful  and  proud,  not 
that  you  don't  want  to  be  neighbourly  with  other  people, 
no,  I  don't  think  that.  But  your  father  said  in  our  home 
that  there  was  no  God,  and  you  wouldn't  let  my  mother  in 
when  she  put  on  her  best  dress  and  went  in  the  carriage,  and 
wanted  to  be  friends.     I  have  to  believe  that." 

"Yes,  you  can't  help  believing  that,"  said  the  Princess. 

"Then  can't  you  see  why  you'll  be  likely  to  show 
Laddie  the  way  to  find  trouble,  instead  of  sunshine?" 

"I  can  see,"  said  the  Princess. 

"Oh  Princess,  you  won't  do  it,  will  you?"  I  cried. 

"Don't  you  think  such  a  big  man  as  Laddie  can  take 
care  of  himself?"  she  asked,  and  the  dancing  lights  that 
had  begun  to  fade  came  back.  "Over  there,"  she  pointed 
through  our  woods  toward  the  southwest,  "lives  a  man 
you  know.     What  do  his  neighbours  call  him?" 

"  Stiflf-necked  Johnny,"  I  answered  promptly. 

"And  the  man  who  lives  next  him?''" 

"Pinch-fist  Williams." 

Her  finger  veered  to  another  neighbour's. 

"The  girls  of  that  house?" 

"Giggle-head  Smithsons." 

"What  about  the  man  who  lives  over  there?" 

"He  beats  his  wife." 

"And  the  house  beyond?" 

"Mother  whispers  about  them.     I  don't  know." 

"And  the  woman  on  the  hill?" 

"She  doesn't  do  anything  but  gossip  and  make  every 
one  trouble." 

"Exactly!"   said  the   Princess.     "Yet  most  of  these 


LITTLE  SISTER  29 

people  come  to  your  house,  and  your  family  goes  to  theirs. 
Do  you  suppose  people  they  know  nothing  about  are  so 
much  worse  than  these  others?" 

"  If  your  father  will  take  it  back  about  God,  and  your 
mother  will  let  people  in — my  mother  and  father  both 
wanted  to  be  friends,  you  know." 

"That  I  can't  possibly  do,"  she  said,  "but  maybe  I 
could  change  their  feelings  toward  me." 

"Do  it!"  I  cried.  "Oh,  I'd  just  love  you  to  do  it! 
I  wish  you  would  come  to  our  house  and  be  friends. 
Sally  is  pretty  as  you  are,  only  a  different  way,  and  I 
know  she'd  like  you,  and  so  would  Shelley.  If  Laddie 
writes  you  letters  and  comes  here  about  sunshine,  of 
course  he'd  be  delighted  if  mother  knew  you;  because 
she  loves  him  best  of  any  of  us.  She  depends  on  him  most 
as  much  as  father." 

"Then  will  you  keep  the  secret  until  I  have  time  to 
try — say  until  this  time  next  year?" 

"I'll  keep  it  just  as  long  as  Laddie  wants  me  to." 

"Good!"  said  the  Princess.  "No  wonder  Laddie 
thinks  you  the  finest  Little  Sister  any  one  ever  had." 

"Does  Laddie  think  that?"  I  asked. 

"He  does  indeed!"  said  the  Princess. 

"Then  I'm  not  afraid  to  go  home,"  I  said.     "And  I'll 
bring  his  letter  the  next  time  he  can't  come." 
j  "Were  you  scared  this  time?" 

'  I  told  her  about  that  Something  in  the  dry  bed,  the 
'wolves,  wildcats,  Paddy  Ryan,  and  the  Gypsies. 

"You  little  goosie,"  said  the  Princess.  "I  am  afraid 
that  brother  Leon  of  yours  is  the  biggest  rogue  loose 


3o  LADDIE 

in  this  part  of  the  country.  Didn't  it  ever  occur  to  you 
that  people  named  Wolfe  live  over  there,  and  they  call 
that  crowd  next  us  'wildcats/  because  they  just  went  on 
some  land  and  took  it,  and  began  living  there  without  any 
more  permission  than  real  wildcats  ask  to  enter  the  woods? 
Do  you  suppose  I  would  be  here,  and  everywhere  else  I 
want  to  go,  if  there  were  any  danger?  Did  anything 
really  harm  you  coming?" 

"You're  harmed  when  you're  scared  until  you  can't 
breathe,"  I  said.  "Anyway,  nothing  could  get  me  coming, 
because  I  held  the  letter  tight  in  my  hand,  like  Laddie 
said.  If  you'd  write  me  one  to  take  back,  I'd  be  safe 
going  home." 

"I  see,"  said  the  Princess.  "But  I've  no  pencil,  and 
no  paper,  unless  I  use  the  back  of  one  of  Laddie's  letters, 
and  that  wouldn't  be  polite." 

"You  can  make  new  fashions,"  I  said,  "but  you  don't 
know  much  about  the  woods,  do  you?  I  could  fix  fifty 
ways  to  send  a  message  to  Laddie." 

"How  would  you?"  asked  the  Princess. 

Running  to  the  pawpaw  bushes  I  pulled  some  big  ten- 
der leaves.  Then  I  took  the  bark  from  the  box  and  laid 
a  leaf  on  it. 

"Press  with  one  of  your  rings,"  I  said,  "and  print 
what  you  want  to  say.  I  write  to  the  Fairies  every  day 
that  way,  only  I  use  an  old  knife  handle." 

She  tried.  She  spoiled  two  or  three  by  bearing  down 
so  hard  she  cut  the  leaves.  She  didn't  even  know  enough 
to  write  on  the  frosty  side,  until  she  was  told.  But  pretty 
soon  she  got  along  so  well  she  printed  all  over  two  big 


LITTLE  SISTER  31 

ones.  Then  I  took  a  stick  and  punched  little  holes  and 
stuck  a  piece  of  foxfire  bloom  through. 

"What  makes  you  do  that?"  she  asked. 

"That's  the  stamp,"I  explained. 

"But  it's  my  letter,  and  I  didn't  put  it  there." 

"Has  to  be  there  or  the  Fairies  won't  like  it,"  I  said. 

"Well  then,  let  it  go,"  said  the  Princess. 

I  put  back  the  bark  and  replaced  the  stone,  gathered 
up  the  scattered  leaves,  and  put  the  two  with  writing  on 
between  fresh  ones. 

"Now  I  must  run,"  I  said,  "or  Laddie  will  think  the 
Gypsies  have  got  me  sure." 

"I'll  go  with  you  past  the  dry  creek,"  she  offered. 

"You  better  not,"  I  said.  "I'd  love  to  have  you, 
but  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  change  their  opinion, 
before  father  or  mother  sees  you  on  their  land." 

"Perhaps  it  would,"  said  the  Princess.  "I'll  wait  here 
until  you  reach  the  fence  and  then  you  call  and  I'll  know 
you  are  in  the  open  and  feel  comfortable." 

"I  am  most  all  over  being  afraid  now,"  I  told  her. 

Just  to  show  her,  I  walked  to  the  creek,  climbed  the 
gate  and  went  down  the  lane.  Almost  to  the  road  I 
began  wondering  what  I  could  do  with  the  letter,  when 
looking  ahead  I  saw  Laddie  coming. 

"I  was  just  starting  to  find  you.  You've  been  an  age, 
child,"  he  said. 

I  held  up  the  letter. 

"No  one  is  looking,"  I  said,  "and  this  won't  go  in  your 
pocket." 

You  should  have  seen  his  face. 


32  LADDIE 

"Where  did  you  get  it?"  he  asked. 

I  told  him  all  about  it.  I  told  him  everything — about 
the  hair  that  maybe  was  stronger  than  she  thought,  and 
that  she  was  going  to  change  father's  and  mother's  opin- 
ions, and  that  I  put  the  red  flower  on,  but  she  left  it;  and 
when  I  was  done  Laddie  almost  hugged  the  life  out  of  me. 
I  never  did  see  him  so  happy. 

"If  you  be  very,  very  careful  never  to  breathe  a  whisper, 
I'll  take  you  with  me  some  day,"  he  promised. 


CHAPTER  II 
Our  Angel  Boy 

"I  had  a  brother  once — a  gracious  boy, 
Full  of  all  gentleness,  of  calmest  hope, 
Of  sweet  and  quiet  joy, — there  was  the  look 
Of  heaven  upon  his  face." 

IT  WAS  supper  time  when  we  reached  home,  and 
Bobby  was  at  the  front  gate  to  meet  me.  He  always 
hunted  me  all  over  the  place  when  the  big  bell  in 
the  yard  rang  at  meal  time,  because  if  he  crowed  nicely 
when  he  was  told,  he  was  allowed  to  stand  on  the  back 
of  my  chair  and  every  little  while  I  held  up  my  plate  and 
shared  bites  with  him.  I  have  seen  many  white  bantams, 
but  never  another  like  Bobby.  My  big  brothers  bought 
him  for  me  at  a  fair  in  Fort  Wayne,  and  sent  him  in  a 
box,  alone  on  the  cars.  Father  and  I  drove  to  Groveville 
to  meet  him.  The  minute  father  pried  off  the  lid,  Bobby 
hopped  on  the  edge  of  the  box  and  crowed — the  biggest 
crow  you  ever  heard  from  such  a  mite  of  a  body;  he  wasn't 
in  the  least  afraid  of  us  and  we  were  pleased  about  it. 
You  scarcely  could  see  his  beady  black  eyes  for  his  bushy 
topknot,  his  wing  tips  touched  the  ground,  his  tail  had  two 
beautiful  plumy  feathers  much  longer  than  the  others,  his 
feet  were  covered  with  feathers,  and  his  knee  tufts  dragged. 
He  was  the  sauciest,  spunkiest  little  fellow,  and  white  as 

55 


34  LADDIE 

muslin.  We  went  to  supper  together,  but  no  one  asked 
where  I  had  been,  and  because  I  was  so  bursting  full  of 
importance,  I  talked  only  to  Bobby,  in  order  to  be  safe. 

After  supper  I  finished  Hezekiah's  trousers,  and  May 
cut  his  coat  for  me.  School  would  begin  in  September 
and  our  clothes  were  being  made,  so  I  used  the  scraps 
to  dress  him.  His  suit  was  done  by  the  next  forenoon, 
and  father  never  laughed  harder  than  when  Hezekiah 
hopped  down  the  walk  to  meet  him  dressed  in  pink  trou- 
sers and  coat.  The  coat  had  flowing  sleeves  like  the 
Princess  wore,  so  Hezekiah  could  fly,  and  he  seemed  to 
like  them.  His  suit  was  such  a  success  I  began  a  sun- 
bonnet,  and  when  that  was  tied  on  him,  the  folks  almost 
had  spasms.  They  said  he  wouldn't  like  being  dressed; 
that  he  would  fly  away  to  punish  me,  but  he  did  no 
such  thing.  He  stayed  around  the  house  and  was  tame 
as  ever. 

When  I  became  tired  sewing  that  afternoon,  I  went 
down  the  lane  leading  to  our  meadow,  where  Leon  was 
killing  thistles  with  a  grubbing  hoe.  I  thought  he  would 
be  glad  to  see  me,  and  he  was.  Every  one  had  been 
busy  in  the  house,  so  I  went  to  the  cellar  the  outside  way 
and  ate  all  I  wanted  from  the  cupboard.  Then  I  spread 
two  big  slices  of  bread  the  best  I  could  with  my  fingers, 
putting  apple  butter  on  one,  and  mashed  potatoes  on  the 
other.  Leon  leaned  on  the  hoe  and  watched  me  coming. 
He  was  a  hungry  boy,  and  lonesome  too,  but  he  couldn't 
have  been  forced  to  say  so. 

"Laddie  is  at  work  in  the  barn,"  he  said. 

"I'm  going  to  play  in  the  creek,"  I  answered. 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  35 

Crossing  our  meadow  there  was  a  stream  that  had 
grassy  banks,  big  trees,  willows,  bushes  and  vines  for 
shade,  a  solid  pebbly  bed;  it  was  all  turns  and  bends  so 
that  the  water  hurried  until  it  bubbled  and  sang  as  it  went; 
in  it  lived  tiny  fish  coloured  brightly  as  flowers,  beside  it 
ran  killdeer,  plover  and  solemn  blue  herons  almost  as  tall 
as  I  was  came  from  the  river  to  fish;  for  a  place  to  play  on 
an  August  afternoon,  it  couldn't  be  beaten.  The  sheep 
had  been  put  in  the  lower  pasture;  so  the  cross  old  Shrop- 
shire ram  was  not  there  to  bother  us. 

"Come  to  the  shade,"  I  said  to  Leon,  and  when  we  were 
comfortably  seated  under  a  big  maple  weighted  down 
with  trailing  grapevines,  I  offered  the  bread.  Leon  took 
a  piece  in  each  hand  and  began  to  eat  as  if  he  were  starv- 
ing. Laddie  would  have  kissed  me  and  said:  "What  a 
fine  treat!     Thank  you,  Little  Sister." 

Leon  was  different.  He  ate  so  greedily  you  had  to 
know  he  was  glad  to  get  it,  but  he  wouldn't  say  so,  not 
if  he  never  got  any  more.  When  you  knew  him,  you 
understood  he  wouldn't  forget  it,  and  he'd  be  certain  to  do 
something  nice  for  you  before  the  day  was  over  to  pay 
back.  We  sat  there  talking  about  everything  we  saw, 
and  at  last  Leon  said  with  a  grin:  "Shelley  isn't  getting 
much  grape  sap  is  she?" 

"I  didn't  know  she  wanted  grape  sap." 

"She  read  about  it  in  a  paper.  It  said  to  cut  the  vine 
of  a  wild  grape,  catch  the  drippings  and  moisten  your  hair. 
This  would  make  it  glossy  and  grow  faster." 

"What  on  earth  does  Shelley  want  with  more  hair  than 
she  has?" 


36  LADDIE 

"Oh,  she  has  heard  it  bragged  on  so  much  she  thinks 
people  would  say  more  if  she  could  improve  it." 

I  looked  and  there  was  the  vine,  dry  as  could  be,  and  a 
milk  crock  beneath  it. 

"Didn't  the  silly  know  she  had  to  cut  the  vine  in  the 
spring  when  the  sap  was  running?" 

"Bear  witness,  O  vine!  that  she  did  not,"  said  Leon, 
"and  speak,  ye  voiceless  pottery,  and  testify  that  she  ex- 
pected to  find  you  overflowing." 

"Too  bad  that  she's  going  to  be  disappointed." 

"She  isn't!  She's  going  to  find  ample  liquid  to  bathe 
her  streaming  tresses.     Keep  quiet  and  watch  me." 

He  picked  up  the  crock,  carried  it  to  the  creek  and 
dipped  it  full  of  water. 

"That's  too  much,"  I  objected.  "She'll  know  she 
never  got  a  crock  full  from  a  dry  vine." 

"She'll  think  the  vine  bled  itself  dry  for  her  sake." 

"She  isn't  that  silly." 

"Well  then,  how  silly  is  she?"  asked  Leon,  spilling  out 
half.     "About  so?" 

"Not  so  bad  as  that.     Less  yet!" 

"Anything  to  please  the  ladies,"  said  Leon,  pouring 
out  more. 

Then  we  sat  and  giggled  a  while. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  now?"  asked  Leon. 

"Play  in  the  creek,"  I  answered. 

"All  right!     I'll  work  near  you." 

He  rolled  his  trousers  above  his  knees  and  took  the 
hoe,  but  he  was  in  the  water  most  of  the  time.  We  had 
to  climb  on  the  bank  when  we  came  to  the  deep  curve,  un- 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  37 

der  the  stump  of  the  old  oak  that  father  cut  because  Pete 
Billings  would  climb  it  and  yowl  like  a  wildcat  on  cold 
winter  nights.  Pete  was  wrong  in  his  head  like  Paddy 
Ryan,  only  worse.  As  we  passed  we  heard  the  faintest 
sounds,  so  we  lay  and  looked,  and  there  in  the  dark 
place  under  the  roots,  where  the  water  was  deepest, 
huddled  some  of  the  cunningest  little  downy  wild  ducks 
you  ever  saw.  We  looked  at  each  other  and  never  said 
a  word.  Leon  chased  them  out  with  the  hoe  and  they 
swam  down  stream  faster  than  old  ones.  I  stood  in  the 
shallow  water  behind  them  and  kept  them  from  going 
back  to  the  deep  place,  while  Leon  worked  to  catch 
them.  Every  time  he  got  one  he  brought  it  to  me,  and 
I  made  a  bag  of  my  apron  front  to  put  them  in.  The 
supper  bell  rang  before  we  caught  all  of  them.  We  were 
dripping  wet  with  creek  water  and  perspiration,  but  we 
had  the  ducks,  every  one  of  them,  and  proudly  started 
home.  I'll  wager  Leon  was  sorry  he  didn't  wear  aprons 
so  he  could  carry  them.  He  did  keep  the  last  one  in  his 
hands,  and  held  its  little  fluffy  body  against  his  cheeks 
every  few  minutes. 

"Couldn't  anything  be  prettier  than  a  young  duck." 

"Except  a  little  guinea,"  I  said. 

"That's  so!"  said  Leon.  "They  are  most  as  pretty  as 
quail.  I  guess  all  young  things  that  have  down  are 
about  as  cunning  as  they  can  be.  I  don't  believe  I  know 
which  I  like  best,  myself." 

"Baby  killdeers." 

"I  mean  tame.     Things  we  raise." 

"I'll  take  guineas." 


38  LADDIE 

"I'll  say  white  turkeys.  They  seem  so  innocent. 
Nothing  of  ours  is  pretty  as  these." 

"But  these  are  wild." 

"So  they  are,"  said  Leon.  "Twelve  of  them.  Won't 
mother  be  pleased?" 

She  was  not  in  the  least.  She  said  we  were  a  sight  to 
behold;  that  she  was  ashamed  to  be  the  mother  of  two 
children  who  didn't  know  tame  ducks  from  wild  ones. 
She  remembered  instantly  that  Amanda  Deam  had  set  a 
speckled  Dorking  hen  on  Mallard  duck  eggs,  where  she 
got  the  eggs,  and  what  she  paid  for  them.  She  said  the 
ducks  had  found  the  creek  that  flowed  beside  Deams'  barn- 
yard before  it  entered  our  land,  and  they  had  swum  away 
from  the  hen,  and  both  the  hen  and  Amanda  would  be 
frantic.  She  put  the  ducks  into  a  basket  and  said  to  take 
them  back  soon  as  ever  we  got  our  suppers,  and  we  must 
hurry  because  we  had  to  bathe  and  learn  our  texts  for 
Sunday-school  in  the  morning. 

We  went  through  the  orchard,  down  the  hill  and  across 
the  meadow  until  we  came  to  the  creek.  By  that  time 
we  were  tired  of  the  basket.  It  was  one  father  had  woven 
himself  of  shaved  and  soaked  hickory  strips,  and  it  was 
heavy.  The  sight  of  water  suggested  the  proper  place 
for  ducks,  anyway.  We  talked  it  over  and  decided  that 
they  would  be  much  more  comfortable  swimming  than  in 
the  basket,  and  it  was  more  fun  to  wade  than  to  walk,  so 
we  went  above  the  deep  place,  I  stood  in  the  creek  to 
keep  them  from  going  down,  and  Leon  poured  them  on  the 
water.  Pigs  couldn't  have  acted  more  contrary.  Those 
ducks  liked  us.     They  wouldn't  go  to   Deams'.     They 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  39 

just  fought  to  swim  back  to  us.  Anyway,  we  had  the 
worst  time  you  ever  saw.  Leon  cut  long  switches  to  herd 
them  with,  and  both  of  us  waded  and  tried  to  drive  them, 
but  they  would  dart  under  embankments  and  roots,  and 
dive  and  hide. 

Before  we  reached  the  Deams'  I  wished  that  we  had 
carried  them  as  mother  told  us,  for  we  had  lost  three,  and 
if  we  stopped  to  hunt  them,  more  would  hide.  By  the 
time  we  drove  them  under  the  floodgate  crossing  the  creek 
between  our  land  and  Deams'  four  were  gone.  Leon  left 
me  on  the  gate  with  both  switches  to  keep  them  from  going 
back  and  he  ran  to  call  Mrs.  Deam.  She  had  red  hair 
and  a  hot  temper,  and  we  were  not  very  anxious  to  see  her, 
but  we  had  to  do  it.  While  Leon  was  gone  I  was  thinking 
pretty  fast  and  I  knew  exactly  how  things  would  happen. 
First  time  mother  saw  Mrs.  Deam  she  would  ask  her  if  the 
ducks  were  all  right,  and  she  would  tell  that  four  were 
gone.  Mother  would  ask  how  many  she  had,  and  she 
would  say  twelve,  then  mother  would  remember  that  she 
started  us  with  twelve  in  the  basket — Oh  what's  the  use! 
Something  had  to  be  done.  It  had  to  be  done  quickly 
too,  for  I  could  hear  Amanda  Deam,  her  boy  Sammy  and 
Leon  coming  across  the  barnyard.  I  looked  around  in 
despair,  but  when  things  are  the  very  worst,  there  is  almost 
always  some  way  out. 

On  the  dry  straw  worked  between  and  pushing  against 
the  panels  of  the  floodgate,  not  far  from  me,  I  saw  a  big 
black  water  snake.  I  took  one  good  look  at  it:  no  cop- 
pery head,  no  geometry  patterns,  no  rattlebox,  so  I  knew 
it  wasn't  poisonous  and  wouldn't  bite  until  it  was  hurt, 


4o  LADDIE 

and  if  it  did,  all  you  had  to  do  was  to  suck  the  place,  and 
it  wouldn't  amount  to  more  than  two  little  pricks  as  if 
pins  had  stuck  you;  but  a  big  snake  was  a  good  ex- 
cuse. I  rolled  from  the  floodgate  among  the  ducks,  and 
cried,  "Snake!"  They  scattered  everywhere.  The  snake 
lazily  uncoiled  and  slid  across  the  straw  so  slowly  that — 
thank  goodness!  Amanda  Deam  got  a  fair  look  at  it. 
She  immediately  began  to  jump  up  and  down  and  scream. 
Leon  grabbed  a  stick  and  came  running  to  the  water. 
I  cried  so  he  had  to  help  me  out  first. 

"Don't  let  her  count  them!"  I  whispered. 

Leon  gave  me  one  swift  look  and  all  the  mischief  in 
his  blue  eyes  peeped  out.  He  was  the  funniest  boy  you 
ever  knew,  anyway.  Mostly  he  looked  scowly  and  abused. 
He  had  a  grievance  against  everybody  and  everything.  He 
said  none  of  us  liked  him,  and  we  imposed  on  him.  Father 
said  that  if  he  tanned  Leon's  jacket  for  anything,  and 
set  him  down  to  think  it  over,  he  would  pout  a  while, 
then  he  would  look  thoughtful,  suddenly  his  face  would 
light  up  and  he  would  go  away  sparkling;  and  you  could 
depend  upon  it  he  would  do  the  same  thing  over,  or  some- 
thing worse,  inside  an  hour.  When  he  wanted  to,  he 
could  smile  the  most  winning  smile,  and  he  could  coax 
you  into  anything.  Mother  said  she  dreaded  to  have  to 
borrow  a  dime  from  him,  if  a  peddler  caught  her  without 
change,  because  she  knew  she'd  be  kept  paying  it  back 
for  the  next  six  months.  Right  now  he  was  the  busiest 
kind  of  a  boy. 

"Where  is  it?  Let  me  get  a  good  lick  at  it!  Don't 
scare  the  ducks!"  he  would  cry,  and  chase  them  from  one 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  41 

bank  to  the  other,  while  Amanda  danced  and  fought 
imaginary  snakes.  For  a  woman  who  had  seen  as  many 
as  she  must  have  in  her  life,  it  was  too  funny.  I  don't 
think  I  could  laugh  harder,  or  Leon  and  Sammy.  We 
enjoyed  ourselves  so  much  that  at  last  she  began  to  be 
angry.  She  quit  dancing,  and  commenced  hunting  ducks, 
for  sure.  She  held  her  skirts  high,  poked  along  the  banks, 
jumped  the  creek  and  didn't  always  get  clear  across.  Her 
hair  shook  down,  she  lost  a  sidecomb,  and  she  couldn't 
find  half  the  ducks. 

"You  younguns  pack  right  out  of  here,"  she  said. 
"Me  and  Sammy  can  get  them  better  ourselves,  and 
if  we  don't  find  all  of  them,  we'll  know  where  they 
are." 

"We  haven't  got  any  of  your  ducks,"  I  said  angrily, 
but  Leon  smiled  his  most  angelic  smile,  and  it  seemed  as 
if  he  were  going  to  cry. 

"Of  course,  if  you  want  to  accuse  mother  of  stealing 
your  ducks,  you  can,"  he  said  plaintively,  "but  I  should 
think  you'd  be  ashamed  to  do  it,  after  all  the  trouble 
we  took  to  catch  them  before  they  swam  to  the  river, 
where  you  never  would  have  found  one  of  them.  Come 
on,  Little  Sister,  let's  go  home." 

He  started  and  I  followed.  As  soon  as  we  got  around 
the  bend  we  sat  on  the  bank,  hung  our  feet  in  the  water, 
leaned  against  each  other  and  laughed.  We  just  laughed 
ourselves  almost  sick.  When  Amanda's  face  got  fire 
red,  and  her  hair  came  down,  and  she  jumped  and  didn't 
go  quite  over,  she  looked  a  perfect  fright. 

"Will  she  ever  find  all  of  them?"  I  asked  at  last. 


42  LADDIE 

"Of  course,"  said  Leon.  "She  will  comb  the  grass 
and  strain  the  water  until  she  gets  every  one/' 

"Hoo-hoo!" 

I  looked  at  Leon.  He  was  so  intently  watching  an 
old  turkey  buzzard  hanging  in  the  air,  he  never  heard  the 
call  that  meant  it  was  time  for  us  to  be  home  and  cleaning 
up  for  Sunday.  It  was  difficult  to  hurry,  for  after  we 
had  been  soaped  and  scoured,  we  had  to  sit  on  the  back 
steps  and  commit  to  memory  verses  from  the  Bible. 
At  last  we  waded  toward  home.  Two  of  the  ducks  we 
had  lost  swam  before  us  all  the  way,  so  we  knew  they  were 
alive,  and  all  they  needed  was  finding. 

"If  she  hadn't  accused  mother  of  stealing  her  old  ducks, 
I'd  catch  those  and  carry  them  back  to  her,"  said  Leon. 
"But  since  she  thinks  we  are  so  mean,  I'll  just  let  her 
and  little  Sammy  find  them." 

Then  we  heard  their  voices  as  they  came  down  the 
creek,  so  Leon  reached  me  his  hand  and  we  scampered 
across  the  water  and  meadow,  never  stopping  until  we 
sat  on  the  top  rail  of  our  back  orchard  fence.  There 
we  heard  another  call,  but  that  was  only  two.  We  sat 
there,  rested  and  looked  at  the  green  apples  above  our 
heads,  wishing  they  were  ripe,  and  talking  about  the  ducks. 
We  could  see  Mrs.  Deam  and  Sammy  coming  down  the 
creek,  one  on  each  side.  We  slid  from  the  fence  and  ran 
into  a  queer  hollow  that  was  cut  into  the  hill  between  the 
never-fail  and  the  Baldwin  apple  trees.  That  hollow  was 
overgrown  with  weeds,  and  full  of  trimmings  from  trees, 
stumps,  everything  that  no  one  wanted  anyplace  else  in  the 
orchard.     It  was  the  only  unkept  spot  on  our  land,  and  I 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  43 

always  wondered  why  father  didn't  clean  it  out  and  make  it 
look  respectable.  I  said  so  to  Leon  as  we  crouched  there 
watching  down  the  hill  where  Mrs.  Deam  and  Sammy  hunted 
ducks  with  not  such  very  grand  success.  They  seemed  to 
have  so  many  they  couldn't  decide  whether  to  go  back  or 
go  on,  so  they  must  have  found  most  of  them. 

"You  know  I've  always  had  my  suspicions  about  this 
place,"  said  Leon.  "There  is  somewhere  on  our  land  that 
people  can  be  hidden  for  a  long  time.  I  can  remember 
well  enough  before  the  war  ever  so  long,  and  while  it 
was  going  worst,  we  would  find  the  wagon  covered  with 
more  mud  in  the  morning  than  had  been  on  it  at  night; 
and  the  horses  would  be  splashed  and  tired.  Once  I 
was  awake  in  the  night  and  heard  voices.  It  made  me 
want  a  drink,  so  I  went  downstairs  for  it,  and  ran  right 
into  the  biggest,  blackest  man  who  ever  grew.  If  father 
and  mother  hadn't  been  there  I'd  have  been  scared  into 
fits.  Next  morning  he  was  gone  and  there  wasn't  a 
whisper.  Father  said  I'd  had  bad  dreams.  That  night 
the  horses  made  another  mysterious  trip.  Now  where 
did  they  keep  the  black  man  all  that  day?" 

"What  did  they  have  a  black  man  for?" 

"They  were  helping  him  run  away  from  slavery  to  be 
free  in  Canada.  It  was  all  right.  I'd  have  done  the 
same  thing.  They  helped  a  lot.  Father  was  a  friend  of 
the  Governor.  There  were  letters  from  him,  and  there 
was  some  good  reason  why  father  stayed  at  home,  when 
he  was  crazy  about  the  war.  I  think  this  farm  was  what 
they  called  an  Underground  Station.  What  I  want  to 
know  is  where  the  station  was." 


44  LADDIE 

"Maybe  it's  here.  Let's  hunt,"  I  said.  "If  the  black 
men  were  here  some  time,  they  would  have  to  be  fed, 
and  this  is  not  far  from  the  house." 

So  we  took  long  sticks  and  began  poking  into  the  weeds. 
Then  we  moved  the  brush,  and  sure  as  you  live,  we  found 
an  old  door  with  a  big  stone  against  it.  I  looked  at 
Leon  and  he  looked  at  me. 

"Hoo-hoo!"  came  mother's  voice,  and  that  was  the 
third  call. 

"Hum!  Must  be  for  us,"  said  Leon.  "We  better 
go  as  soon  as  we  get  a  little  dryer." 

He  slid  down  the  bank  on  one  side,  and  I  on  the  other, 
and  we  pushed  at  the  stone.  I  thought  we  never  would 
get  it  rolled  away  so  we  could  open  the  door  a  crack,  but 
when  we  did  what  we  saw  was  most  surprising.  There 
was  a  little  room,  dreadfully  small,  but  a  room.  There 
was  straw  scattered  over  the  floor,  very  deep  on  one  side, 
where  an  old  blanket  showed  that  it  had  been  a  bed. 
Across  the  end  there  was  a  shelf.  On  it  was  a  candle- 
stick, with  a  half-burned  candle  in  it,  a  pie  pan  with  some 
mouldy  crumbs,  crusts,  bones  in  it,  and  a  tin  can.  Leon 
picked  up  the  can  and  looked  in.     I  could  see  too. 

It  had  been  used  for  water  or  coffee,  as  the  plate  had  for 
food,  once,  but  now  it  was  stuffed  full  of  money.  I  saw 
Leon  pull  some  out  and  then  shove  it  back,  and  he  came 
to  the  door  white  as  could  be,  shut  it  behind  him  and 
began  to  push  at  the  stone.  When  we  got  it  in  place  we 
put  the  brush  over  it,  and  fixed  everything  like  it  had 
been. 

At  last  Leon  said:     "That's  the  time  we  got  into  some- 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  45 

thing  not  intended  for  us,  and  if  father  finds  it  out,  we 
are  in  for  a  good  thrashing.  Are  you  just  a  blubbering 
baby,  or  are  you  big  enough  to  keep  still?" 

"I  am  old  enough  that  I  could  have  gone  to  school 
two  years  ago,  and  I  won't  tell!"  I  said  stoutly. 

"All  right!  Come  on  then,"  said  Leon.  "I  don't 
know  but  mother  has  been  calling  us." 

We  started  up  the  orchard  path  at  the  fourth  call. 

"Hoo-hoo!"  answered  Leon  in  a  sick  little  voice  to 
make  it  sound  far  away.  Must  have  made  mother  think 
we  were  on  Deams'  hill.     Then  we  went  on  side  by  side. 

"Say  Leon,  you  found  the  Station,  didn't  you?" 

"Don't  talk  about  it!"  snapped  Leon. 

I  changed  the  subject. 

"Whose  money  do  you  suppose  that  is?" 

"Oh  crackey!  You  can  depend  on  a  girl  to  see  every- 
thing," groaned  Leon.  "Do  you  think  you'll  be  able 
to  stand  the  switching  that  job  will  bring  you,  without 
getting  sick  in  bed  ? " 

Now  I  never  had  been  sick  in  bed,  and  from  what  I  had 
seen  of  other  people  who  were,  I  never  wanted  to  be. 
The  idea  of  being  switched  until  it  made  me  sick  was  too 
much  for  me.  I  shut  my  mouth  tight  and  I  never  opened 
it  about  the  Station  place.  As  we  reached  the  maiden's- 
blush  apple  tree  came  another  call,  and  it  sounded  pretty 
cross,  I  can  tell  you.     Leon  reached  his  hand. 

"Now,  it's  time  to  run.     Let  me  do  the  talking." 

We  were  out  of  breath  when  we  reached  the  back  door. 
There  stood  the  tub  on  the  kitchen  floor,  the  boiler  on 
the  stove,   soap,  towels,   and   clean   clothing  on  chairs. 


46  LADDIE 

Leon  had  his  turn  at  having  his  ears  washed  first,  because 
he  could  bathe  himself  while  mother  did  my  hair. 

"Was  Mrs.  Deam  glad  to  get  her  ducks  back?"  she 
asked  as  she  fine-combed  Leon. 

"Aw,  you  never  can  tell  whether  she's  glad  about 
anything  or  not,"  growled  Leon.  "You'd  have  thought 
from  the  way  she  acted,  that  we'd  been  trying  to  steal 
her  ducks.  She  said  if  she  missed  any  she'd  know  where 
to  find  them." 

"Well  as  I  live!"  cried  mother.  "Why  I  wouldn't 
have  believed  that  of  Amanda  Deam.  You  told  her  you 
thought  they  were  wild,  of  course." 

"I  didn't  have  a  chance  to  tell  her  anything.  The 
minute  the  ducks  struck  the  water  they  started  right 
back  down  stream,  and  there  was  a  big  snake,  and  we  had 
an  awful  time.  We  got  wet  trying  to  head  them  back, 
and  then  we  didn't  find  all  of  them." 

"They  are  like  little  eels.  You  should  have  helped 
Amanda." 

"Well,  you  called  so  cross  we  thought  you  would  come 
after  us,  so  we  had  to  run." 

"One  never  knows,"  sighed  mother.  "I  thought  you 
were  loitering.  Of  course  if  I  had  known  you  were 
having  trouble  with  the  ducks!  I  think  you  had  better 
go  back  and  help  them." 

"Didn't  I  do  enough  to  take  them  home?  Can't 
Sammy  Deam  catch  ducks  as  fast  as  I  can?" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  mother.  "And  I  must  get  your 
bathing  out  of  the  way  of  supper.  You  use  the  tub  while 
I  do  Little  Sister's  hair." 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  47 

I  almost  hated  Sunday,  because  of  what  had  to  be  done 
to  my  hair  on  Saturday,  to  get  ready  for  it.  All  week 
it  hung  in  two  long  braids  that  were  brushed  and  arranged 
each  morning.  But  on  Saturday  it  had  to  be  combed 
with  a  fine  comb,  oiled  and  rolled  around  strips  of  tin  un- 
til Sunday  morning.  Mother  did  everything  thoroughly. 
She  raked  that  fine  comb  over  our  scalps  until  she  almost 
raised  the  blood.  She  hadn't  time  to  fool  v/ith  tangles, 
and  we  had  so  much  hair  she  didn't  know  what  to  do  with 
all  of  it,  anyway.  When  she  was  busy  talking  she  reached 
around  too  far  and  combed  across  our  foreheads  or  raked 
the  tip  of  an  ear. 

But  on  Sunday  morning  we  forgot  all  that,  when  we 
walked  down  the  aisle  with  shining  curls  hanging  below 
our  waists.  Mother  was  using  the  fine  comb,  when  she 
looked  up,  and  there  stood  Mrs.  Freshett.  We  could 
see  at  a  glance  that  she  was  out  of  breath. 

"Have  I  beat  them?"  she  cried. 

"Whom  are  you  trying  to  beat?"  asked  mother  as  she 
told  May  to  set  a  chair  for  Mrs.  Freshett  and  bring  her 
a  drink. 

"The  grave-kiver  men,"  she  said.  "I  wanted  to  get 
to  you  first." 

"Well,  you  have,"  said  mother.  "Rest  a  while  and 
then  tell  me." 

But  Mrs.  Freshett  was  so  excited  she  couldn't  rest. 

"I  thought  they  were  coming  straight  on  down," 
she  said,  "but  they  must  have  turned  ofF  at  the  cross 
roads.  I  want  to  do  what's  right  by  my  children  here 
o\  there,"  panted  Mrs.  Freshett,  "and  these  men  seemed 


48  LADDIE 

to  think  the  contrivance  they  was  sellin'  perfectly  grand, 
an'  like  to  be  an  aid  to  the  soul's  salvation.  Nice  as  it 
seemed,  an'  convincin'  as  they  talked,  I  couldn't  get  the 
consent  of  my  mind  to  order,  until  I  knowed  if  you  was 
goin'  to  kiver  your  dead  with  the  contraption.  None  of 
the  rest  of  the  neighbours  seem  overly  friendly  to  me,  an' 
I've  told  Josiah  many's  the  time,  that  I  didn't  care  a  rap  if 
they  wa'n't,  so  long  as  I  had  you.  Says  I,  'Josiah,  to  my 
way  of  thinkin',  she  is  top  crust  in  this  neighbourhood,  and 
I'm  on  the  safe  side  apin'  her  ways  clost  as  possible.'" 

"I'll  gladly  help  you  all  I  can,"  said  my  mother. 

"Thanky!"  said  Mrs.  Freshett.  "I  knowed  you  would. 
Josiah  he  says  to  me,  'Don't  you  be  apin'  nobody.' 
'Josiah,'  says  I,  'it  takes  a  pretty  smart  woman  in  this 
world  to  realize  what  she  doesn't  know.  Now  I  know 
what  I  know,  well  enough,  but  all  I  know  is  like  to  keep 
me  an'  my  children  in  a  log  cabin  an'  on  log  cabin  ways 
to  the  end  of  our  time.'  You  ain't  even  got  the  remains 
of  the  cabin  you  started  in  for  a  cow  shed.  Says  I, 
'Josiah,  Miss  Stanton  knows  how  to  get  out  of  a  cabin 
an'  into  a  grand  big  palace,  fit  fur  a  queen  woman.  She's 
a  ridin'  in  a  shinin'  kerridge,  'stid  of  a  spring  wagon.  She 
goes  abroad  dressed  so's  you  men  all  stand  starin'  like 
cabbage  heads.  All  hern  go  to  church,  an'  Sunday-school, 
an*  college,  an'  come  out  on  the  top  of  the  heap.  She 
does  jest  what  I'd  like  to  if  I  knowed  how.  An'  she  ain't 
come-uppety  one  morsel.'  If  I  was  to  strike  acrost  fields 
to  them  stuck-up  Pryors,  I'd  get  the  door  slammed  in  my 
face  if  'twas  the  missus,  a  sneer  if  'twas  the  man,  an'  at 
best  a  nod  cold  as  an  iceberg  if  'twas  the  girl.     Them  as 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  49 

wants  to  call  her  kind  'Princess,'  and  encourage  her  in 
being  more  stuck  up  'an  she  was  born  to  be,  can,  but  to 
my  mind  a  Princess  is  a  person  who  thinks  of  some  one 
besides  herself  once  in  a  while." 

"I  don't  find  the  Pryors  easy  to  become  acquainted 
with,"  said  mother.  "I  have  never  met  the  woman;  I 
know  the  man  very  slightly;  he  has  been  here  on  business 
once  or  twice,  but  the  girl  seems  as  if  she  would  be  nice, 
if  one  knew  her." 

"Well,  I  wouldn't  have  s'posed  she  was  your  kind," 
said  Mrs.  Freshett.  "If  she  is,  I  won't  open  my  head 
against  her  any  more.  Anyway,  it  was  the  grave-kivers 
I  come  about." 

"Just  what  is  it,  Mrs.  Freshett?"  asked  mother. 

"It's  two  men  sellin'  a  patent  iron  kiver  for  to  protect 
the  graves  of  your  dead  from  the  sun  an'  the  rain." 

"Who  wants  the  graves  of  their  dead  protected  from 
the  sun  and  the  rain?"  demanded  my  mother  sharply. 

"I  said  to  Josiah,  'I  don't  know  how  she'll  feel  about 
it,  but  I  can't  do  more  than  ask.'" 

"Do  they  carry  a  sample?     What  is  it  like?" 

"Jest  the  len'th  an'  width  of  a  grave.  They  got  from 
baby  to  six-footer  sizes.  They  are  cast  iron  like  the  bot- 
tom of  a  cook  stove  on  the  under  side,  but  atop  they  are 
polished  so  they  shine  somethin'  beautiful.  You  can  get 
them  in  a  solid  piece,  or  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  about  the 
size  of  a  milk  crock  to  set  flowers  through.  They  come 
ten  to  the  grave,  an'  they  are  mighty  stylish  lookin'  things. 
I  have  been  savin'  all  I  could  skimp  from  butter,  an'  eggs, 
to  get  Samantha  a  organ;  but  says  I  to  her:  'You  are  get- 


50  LADDIE 

tin*  all  I  can  do  for  you  every  day;  there  lays  your  poor 
brother  'at  ain't  had  a  finger  lifted  for  him  since  he  was 
took  so  sudden  he  was  gone  before  I  knowed  he  was  goinV 
I  never  can  get  over  Henry  bein'  took  the  way  he  was,  so 
I  says:  'If  this  would  be  a  nice  thing  to  have  for  Henry's 
grave,  and  the  neighbours  are  goin'  to  have  them  for 
theirn,  looks  to  me  like  some  of  the  organ  money  will  have 
to  go,  an'  we'll  make  it  up  later.'  I  don't  'low  for  Henry 
to  be  slighted  bekase  he  rid  himself  to  death  trying  to 
make  a  president  out  of  his  pa's  gin'ral." 

"You  never  told  me  how  you  lost  your  son,"  said 
mother,  feeling  so  badly  she  wiped  one  of  my  eyes  full  of  oil. 

"Law  now,  didn't  I?"  inquired  Mrs.  Freshett.  "Well 
mebby  that  is  bekase  I  ain't  had  a  chance  to  tell  you 
much  of  anythin',  your  bein'  always  so  busy  like,  an'  me 
not  wantin'  to  wear  out  my  welcome.  It  was  like  this: 
All  endurin'  the  war  Henry  an'  me  did  the  best  we  could 
without  pa  at  home,  but  by  the  time  it  was  over,  Henry 
was  most  a  man.  Seemed  as  if  when  he  got  home,  his  pa 
was  all  tired  out  and  glad  to  set  down  an'  rest,  but  Henry 
was  afire  to  be  up  an'  goin'.  His  pa  filled  him  so  full 
o'  Grant,  it  was  runnin'  out  of  his  ears.  Come  the  second 
run  the  Gin'ral  made,  peered  like  Henry  set  out  to  'lect 
him  all  by  hisself.  He  wore  every  horse  on  the  place  out, 
ridin'  to  rallies.  Sometimes  he  was  gone  three  days  at  a 
stretch.  He'd  git  one  place  an'  hear  of  a  rally  on  ten 
miles  or  so  furder,  an'  blest  if  he  didn't  ride  plum  acrost 
the  state  'fore  he  got  through  with  one  trip.  He  set  out 
in  July,  and  he  rid  right  straight  through  to  November, 
nigh  onto  every  day  of  his  life.     He  got  white,  an'  thin, 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  51 

an'  narvous,  from  loss  of  sleep  an*  lack  of  food,  an*  his 
pa  got  restless,  said  Henry  was  takin'  the  'lection  more 
serious  'an  he  ever  took  the  war.  Last  few  days  before 
votin'  was  cold  an'  raw  an'  Henry  rid  constant.  'Lec- 
tion day  he  couldn't  vote,  for  he  lacked  a  year  of  bein' 
o'  age,  an'  he  rid  in  with  a  hard  chill,  an'  white  as  a  ghost, 
an'  he  says:  *'Ma,'  says  he,  'I've  'lected  Grant,  but  I'm 
all  tuckered  out.     Put  me  to  bed  an'  kiver  me  warm." 

I  forgot  the  sting  in  my  eyes  watching  Mrs.  Freshett. 
She  was  the  largest  woman  I  knew,  and  strong  as  most  men. 
Her  hair  was  black  and  glisteny,  her  eyes  black,  her 
cheeks  red,  her  skin  a  clear,  even  dark  tint.  She  was 
handsome,  she  was  honest,  and  she  was  in  earnest  over 
everything.  There  was  something  about  her,  or  her 
family,  that  had  to  be  told  in  whispers,  and  some  of  the 
neighbours  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  her.  But 
mother  said  Mrs.  Freshett  was  doing  the  very  best  she 
knew,  and  for  the  sake  of  that,  and  of  her  children,  any 
one  who  wouldn't  help  her  was  not  a  Christian,  and  not 
to  be  a  Christian  was  the  very  worst  thing  that  could 
happen  to  you.  I  stared  at  her  steadily.  She  talked 
straight  along,  so  rapidly  you  scarcely  could  keep  up 
with  the  words;  you  couldn't  if  you  wanted  to  think 
about  them  any  between.  There  was  not  a  quiver  in 
her  voice,  but  from  her  eyes  there  rolled,  steadily,  the 
biggest,  roundest  tears  I  ever  saw.  They  ran  down  her 
cheeks,  formed  a  stream  in  the  first  groove  of  her  double 
chin,  overflowed  it,  and  dripped  drop,  drop,  a  drop  at  a 
time,  on  the  breast  of  her  stiffly  starched  calico  dress,  and 
from  there  shot  to  her  knees. 


52  LADDIE 

"'Twa'n't  no  time  at  all  'til  he  was  chokin'  an'  burnin' 
red  with  fever,  an'  his  pa  and  me,  stout  as  we  be,  couldn't 
hold  him  down  nor  keep  him  kivered.  He  was  speechi- 
fyin'  to  beat  anythin'  you  ever  heard.  His  pa  said  he  was 
repeatin'  what  he'd  heard  said  by  every  big  stump  speaker 
from  Greeley  to  Logan.  When  he  got  so  hoarse  we  couldn't 
tell  what  he  said  any  more,  he  jest  mouthed  it,  an'  at  last 
he  dropped  back  and  laid  like  he  was  pinned  to  the  sheets, 
an'  I  thought  he  was  restin',  but  'twa'n't  an  hour  'til 
he  was  gone." 

Suddenly  Mrs.  Freshett  lifted  her  apron,  covered  her 
face  and  sobbed  until  her  broad  shoulders  shook. 

"Oh  you  poor  soul!"  said  my  mother.  "I'm  so  sorry 
for  you!" 

"I  never  knowed  he  was  a-goin'  until  he  was  gone," 
she  said.  "He  was  the  only  one  of  mine  I  ever  lost, 
an'  I  thought  it  would  jest  lay  me  out.  I  couldn't  'a' 
stood  it  at  all  if  I  hadn't  'a'  knowed  he  was  saved.  I  well 
know  my  Henry  went  straight  to  Heaven.  Why  Miss 
Stanton,  he  riz  right  up  in  bed  at  the  last,  and  clear  and 
strong  he  jest  yelled  it:  'Hurrah  fur  Grant!" 

My  mother's  fingers  tightened  in  my  hair  until  I  thought 
she  would  pull  out  a  lot,  and  I  could  feel  her  knees  stiffen. 
Leon  just  whooped.     Mother  sprang  up  and  ran  to  the  door. 

"Leon!"  she  cried.  Then  there  was  a  slam.  "What 
in  the  world  is  the  matter?"  she  asked. 

"Stepped  out  of  the  tub  right  on  the  soap,  and  it  threw 
me  down,"  explained  Leon. 

"For  mercy  sake,  be  careful!"  said  my  mother,  and 
shut  the  doer. 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  53 

It  wasn't  a  minute  before  the  knob  turned  and  it 
opened  again  a  little. 

I  never  saw  mother's  face  look  so  queer,  but  at  last 
she  said  softly:  "You  were  thinking  of  the  grave  cover 
for  him?" 

"Yes,  but  I  wanted  to  ask  you  before  I  bound  myself. 
I  heard  you  lost  two  when  the  scarlet  fever  was  ragin' 
an'  I'm  goin'  to  do  jest  what  you  do.  If  you  have  kivers, 
I  will.  If  you  don't  like  them  when  you  see  how  bright 
and  shiny  they  are,  I  won't  get  any  either." 

"I  can  tell  you  without  seeing  them,  Mrs.  Freshett," 
said  my  mother,  wrapping  a  strand  of  hair  around  the  tin 
so  tight  I  slipped  up  my  fingers  to  feel  whether  my  neck 
wasn't  like  a  buckeye  hull  looks,  and  it  was.  "I  don't 
want  any  cover  for  the  graves  of  my  dead  but  grass  and 
flowers,  and  sky  and  clouds.  I  like  the  rain  to  fall  on 
them,  and  the  sun  to  shine,  so  that  the  grass  and  flowers 
will  grow.  If  you  are  satisfied  that  the  soul  of  Henry  is 
safe  in  Heaven,  that  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Laying  a 
slab  of  iron  on  top  of  earth  six  feet  above  his  body  will 
make  no  difference  to  him.  If  he  is  singing  with  the 
angels,  by  all  means  save  your  money  for  the  organ." 

"I  don't  know  about  the  singin',  but  I'd  stake  my  last 
red  cent  he's  still  hollerin'  fur  Grant.  I  was  kind  o'  took 
with  the  idea;  the  things  was  so  shiny  and  scilloped  at  the 
edges,  peered  like  it  was  payin'  considerable  respect  to 
the  dead  to  kiver  them  that-a-way." 

"What  good  would  it  do?"  asked  mother.  "The 
sun  shining  on  the  iron  would  make  it  so  hot  it  would 
burn  any  flower  you  tried  to  plant  in  the  opening;  the 


54  LADDIE 

water  couldn't  reach  the  roots,  and  all  that  fell  on  the 
slab  would  run  off  and  make  it  that  much  wetter  at  the 
edges.  The  iron  would  soon  rust  and  grow  dreadfully- 
ugly  lying  under  winter  snow.  There  is  nothing  at  all  in 
it,  save  a  method  to  work  on  the  feelings  of  the  living, 
and  get  them  to  pay  their  money  for  something  that 
wouldn't  affect  their  dead  a  particle." 

"'Twould  be  a  poor  idea  for  me,"  said  Mrs.  Freshett. 
"I  said  to  the  men  that  I  wanted  to  honour  Henry  all  I 
could,  but  with  my  bulk,  I'd  hev  all  I  could  do,  come 
Jedgment  Day,  to  bust  my  box,  an'  heave  up  the  clods, 
without  havin'  to  hist  up  a  piece  of  iron  an'  klim  from 
under  it." 

Mother  stiffened  and  Leon  slipped  again.  He  could 
have  more  accidents  than  any  boy  I  ever  knew.  But 
it  was  only  a  few  minutes  until  he  came  to  mother  and 
gave  her  a  Bible  to  mark  the  verses  he  had  to  learn  to 
recite  at  Sunday-school  next  day.  Mother  couldn't  take 
the  time  when  she  had  company,  so  she  asked  if  he  weren't 
big  enough  to  pick  out  ten  proper  verses  and  learn  them 
by  himself,  and  he  said  of  course  he  was.  He  took  his 
Bible  and  he  and  May  and  I  sat  on  the  back  steps  and 
studied  our  verses.  He  and  May  were  so  big  they  had 
ten;  but  I  had  only  two,  and  mine  were  not  very  long. 
Leon  giggled  half  the  time  he  was  studying.  I  haven't 
found  anything  so  very  funny  in  the  Bible.  Every  few 
minutes  he  would  whisper  to  himself:  "  That's  a  good 
one!" 

He  took  the  book  and  heard  May  do  hers  until  she 
had  them  perfectly,  then  he  went  and  sat  on  the  back 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  55 

fence  with  his  book  and  studied  as  I  never  before  had  seen 
him.  Mrs.  Freshett  stayed  so  long  mother  had  no  time 
to  hear  him,  but  he  told  her  he  had  them  all  learned  so  he 
could  repeat  them  without  a  mistake. 

Next  morning  mother  was  busy,  so  she  had  no  time 
then.  Father,  Shelley,  and  I  rode  on  the  front  seat, 
mother,  May,  and  Sally  on  the  back,  while  the  boys 
started  early  and  walked. 

When  we  reached  the  top  of  the  hill,  the  road  was  lined 
with  carriages,  wagons,  spring  wagons,  and  saddle  horses. 
Father  found  a  place  for  our  team  and  we  went  down  the 
walk  between  the  hitching  rack  and  the  cemetery  fence. 
Mother  opened  the  gate  and  knelt  beside  two  small 
graves  covered  with  grass,  shaded  by  yellow  rose  bushes, 
and  marked  with  little  white  stones.  She  laid  some 
flowers  on  each  and  wiped  the  dust  from  the  carved  letters 
with  her  handkerchief.  The  little  sisters  who  had  scarlet 
fever  and  whooping  cough  lay  there.  Mother  was  still  a 
minute  and  then  she  said  softly:  "  'The  Lord  has  given 
and  the  Lord  has  taken  away.  Blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord.'" 

She  was  very  pale  when  she  came  to  us,  but  her  eyes 
were  bright  and  she  smiled  as  she  put  her  arms  around  as 
many  of  us  as  she  could  reach. 

"What  a  beautiful  horse!"  said  Sally.  "Look  at  that 
saddle  and  bridle!     The  Pryor  girl  is  here." 

"Why  should  she  come?"  asked  Shelley. 

"To  show  her  fine  clothes  and  queen  it  over  us!" 

"Children,  children!"  said  mother.  "  'Judge  not!' 
This  is  a  house  of  worship.     The  Lord  may  be  drawing 


56  LADDIE 

her  in  His  own  way.  It  is  for  us  to  help  Him  by  being 
kind  and  making  her  welcome." 

At  the  church  door  we  parted  and  sat  with  our  teachers, 
but  for  the  first  time  as  I  went  down  the  aisle  I  was  not 
thinking  of  my  linen  dress,  my  patent  leather  slippers,  and 
my  pretty  curls.  It  suddenly  seemed  cheap  to  me  to 
twist  my  hair  when  it  was  straight  as  a  shingle,  and  cut 
my  head  on  tin.  If  the  Lord  had  wanted  me  to  have  curls, 
my  hair  would  have  been  like  Sally's.  Seemed  to  me 
hers  tried  to  see  into  what  big  soft  curls  it  could  roll. 
May  said  ours  was  so  straight  it  bent  back  the  other  way. 
Anyway,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  talk  it  over  with  father 
and  always  wear  braids  after  that,  if  I  could  get  him  to 
coax  mother  to  let  me. 

Our  church  was  quite  new  and  it  was  beautiful.  All 
the  casings  were  oiled  wood,  and  the  walls  had  just  a 
little  yellow  in  the  last  skin  coating  used  to  make  them 
smooth,  so  they  were  a  creamy  colour,  and  the  blinds 
were  yellow.  The  windows  were  wide  open  and  the 
wind  drifted  through,  while  the  birds  sang  as  much  as 
they  ever  do  in  August,  among  the  trees  and  bushes 
of  the  cemetery.  Every  one  had  planted  so  many  flowers 
of  all  kinds  on  the  graves  you  could  scent  sweet  odours. 
Often  a  big,  black-striped,  brown  butterfly  came  sailing 
in  through  one  of  the  windows,  followed  the  draft  across 
the  room,  and  out  of  another.  I  was  thinking  something 
funny:  it  was  about  what  the  Princess  had  said  of  other 
people,  and  whether  hers  were  worse.  I  looked  at  my 
father  sitting  in  calm  dignity  in  his  Sunday  suit  and 
thought  him  quite  as  fine  and  handsome  as  mother  did. 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  57 

Every  Sabbath  he  wore  the  same  suit,  he  sat  in  the  same 
spot,  he  worshipped  the  Lord  in  his  calm,  earnest  way. 
The  ministers  changed,  but  father  was  as  much  a  part  of 
the  service  as  the  Bible  on  the  desk  or  the  communion 
table.  I  wondered  if  people  said  things  about  him,  and  if 
they  did,  what  they  were.  I  never  had  heard.  Twisting 
in  my  seat,  one  by  one  I  studied  the  faces  on  the  men's 
side,  and  then  the  women.  It  was  a  mighty  good-looking 
crowd.  Some  had  finer  clothes  than  others — that  is 
always  the  way — but  as  a  rule  every  one  was  clean, 
neat,  and  good  to  see.  From  some  you  scarcely  could 
turn  away.  There  was  Widow  Fall.  She  was  French, 
from  Virginia,  and  she  talked  like  little  tinkly  notes  of 
music.  I  just  loved  to  hear  her,  and  she  walked  like 
high-up  royalty.  Her  dress  was  always  black,  with  white 
bands  at  the  neck  and  sleeves,  black  rustly  silk,  and  her 
eyes  and  hair  were  like  the  dress.  There  was  a  little  red 
on  her  cheeks  and  lips,  and  her  face  was  always  grave 
until  she  saw  you  directly  before  her,  and  then  she  smiled 
the  sweetest  smile. 

Maybe  Sarah  Hood  was  not  pretty,  but  there  was 
something  about  her  lean  face  and  shining  eyes  that 
made  you  look  twice  before  you  were  sure  of  it,  and  by 
that  time  you  had  got  so  used  to  her,  you  liked  her  better 
as  she  was,  and  wouldn't  have  changed  her  for  anything. 
Mrs.  Fritz  had  a  pretty  face  and  dresses  and  manners, 
and  so  did  Hannah  Dover,  only  she  talked  too  much. 
So  I  studied  them  and  remembered  what  the  Princess 
had  said,  and  I  wondered  if  she  heard  some  one  say  that 
Peter  Justice  beat  his  wife,  or  if  she  showed  it  in  her  face 


58  LADDIE 

and  manner.  She  reminded  me  of  a  scared  cowsiip  that 
had  been  cut  and  laid  in  the  sun  an  hour.  I  don't  know 
as  that  expresses  it.  Perhaps  a  flower  couldn't  look 
scared,  but  it  could  be  wilted  and  faded.  I  wondered 
if  she  ever  had  bright  hair,  laughing  eyes,  and  red  in 
her  lips  and  cheeks.  She  must  have  been  pretty  if  she 
had. 

At  last  I  reached  my  mother.  There  was  nothing 
scared  or  faded  about  her,  and  she  was  dreadfully  sick 
too,  once  in  a  while  since  she  had  the  fever.  She  was 
a  little  bit  of  a  woman,  coloured  like  a  wild  rose  petal, 
face  and  body — a  piece  of  pink  porcelain  Dutch,  father 
said.  She  had  brown  eyes,  hair  like  silk,  and  she  always 
had  three  best  dresses.  There  was  one  of  alpaca  or 
woollen,  of  black,  gray  or  brown,  and  two  silks.  Always 
there  was  a  fine  rustly  black  one  with  a  bonnet  and  man- 
tle to  match,  and  then  a  softer,  finer  one  of  either  gold 
brown,  like  her  hair,  or  dainty  gray,  like  a  dove's  wing. 
When  these  grew  too  old  for  fine  use,  she  wore  them  to 
Sunday-school  and  had  a  fresh  one  for  best.  There  was 
a  new  gray  in  her  closet  at  home,  so  she  put  on  the  old 
brown  to-day,  and  she  was  lovely  in  it. 

Usually  the  minister  didn't  come  for  church  services 
until  Sunday-school  was  half  over,  so  the  superintendent 
read  a  chapter,  Daddy  Debs  prayed,  and  all  of  us  stood 
up  and  sang:  "Ring  Out  the  Joy  Bells."  Then  the 
superintendent  read  the  lesson  over  as  impressively  as  he 
could.  The  secretary  made  his  report,  we  sang  another 
song,  gathered  the  pennies,  and  each  teacher  took  a  class 
and  talked  over  the  lesson  a  few  minutes.     Then  we  re- 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  59 

peated  the  verses  we  had  committed  to  memory  to  our 
teachers;  the  member  of  each  class  who  had  learned  the 
nicest  texts,  and  knew  them  best,  was  selected  to  recite 
before  the  school.  Beginning  with  the  littlest  people, 
we  came  to  the  big  folks.  Each  one  recited  two  texts 
until  they  reached  the  class  above  mine.  We  walked  to 
the  front,  stood  inside  the  altar,  made  a  little  bow,  and 
the  superintendent  kept  score.  I  could  see  that  mother 
appeared  worried  when  Leon's  name  was  called  for  his 
class,  for  she  hadn't  heard  him,  and  she  was  afraid  he 
would  forget. 

Among  the  funny  things  about  Leon  was  this:  while 
you  had  to  drive  other  boys  of  his  age  to  recite,  you 
almost  had  to  hold  him  to  keep  him  from  it.  Father  said 
he  was  born  for  a  politician  or  a  preacher,  if  he  would 
be  good,  and  grow  into  the  right  kind  of  a  man  to  do 
such  responsible  work. 

"I  forgot  several  last  Sabbath,  so  I  have  thirteen  to- 
day," he  said  politely. 

Of  course  no  one  expected  anything  like  that.  You 
never  knew  what  might  happen  when  Leon  did  any- 
thing. He  must  have  been  about  sixteen.  He  was  a 
slender  lad,  having  almost  sandy  hair,  like  his  English 
grandfather.  He  wore  a  white  ruffled  shirt  with  a  broad 
collar,  and  cuffs  turning  back  over  his  black  jacket,  and 
his  trousers  fitted  his  slight  legs  closely.  The  wind 
whipped  his  soft  black  tie  a  little  and  ruffled  the  light  hair 
where  it  was  longest  and  wavy  above  his  forehead.  Such 
a  perfect  picture  of  innocence  you  never  saw.  There  was 
one  part  of  him  that  couldn't  be  described  any  better 


6o  LADDIE 

than  the  way  Mr.  Rienzi  told  about  his  brother  in  his 
"Address  to  the  Romans,"  in  McGuffey's  Sixth.  "The 
look  of  heaven  on  his  face"  stayed  most  of  the  time;  again, 
there  was  a  dealish  twinkle  that  sparkled  and  flashed 
while  he  was  thinking  up  something  mischievous  to  do. 
When  he  was  fighting  angry,  and  going  to  thrash  Absalom 
Saunders  or  die  trying,  he  was  plain  white  and  his  eyes 
were  like  steel.  Mother  called  him  "Weiscope,"  half 
the  time.  I  can  only  spell  the  way  that  sounds,  but  it 
means  "white-head,"  and  she  always  used  that  name 
when  she  loved  him  most.  "The  look  of  heaven"  was 
strong  on  his  face  now. 

"One,"  said  the  recording  secretary. 

"Jesus  wept,"  answered  Leon  promptly. 

There  was  not  a  sound  in  the  church.  You  could 
almost  hear  the  butterflies  pass.  Father  looked  down 
and  laid  his  lower  lip  in  folds  with  his  fingers,  like  he 
did  sometimes  when  it  wouldn't  behave  to  suit  him. 

"Two,"  said  the  secretary  after  just  a  breath  of  pause. 

Leon  looked  over  the  congregation  easily  and  then 
fastened  his  eyes  on  Abram  Saunders,  the  father  of 
Absalom,  and  said  reprovingly:  "Give  not  sleep  to  thine 
eyes  nor  slumber  to  thine  eyelids." 

Abram  straightened  up  suddenly  and  blinked  in  aston- 
ishment, while  father  held  fast  to  his  lip. 

"Three,"  called  the  secretary  hurriedly. 

Leon  shifted  his  gaze  to  Betsy  Alton,  who  hadn't 
spoken  to  her  next  door  neighbour  in  five  years. 

"Hatred  stirreth  up  strife,"  he  told  her  softly,  "but 
love  covereth  all  sins." 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  61 

Things  were  so  quiet  it  seemed  as  if  the  air  would 
snap. 

"Four." 

The  mild  blue  eyes  travelled  back  to  the  men's  side  and 
settled  on  Isaac  Thomas,  a  man  too  lazy  to  plow  and 
sow  land  his  father  had  left  him.  They  were  not  so  mild, 
and  the  voice  was  touched  with  command:  "Go  to  the 
ant,  thou  sluggard,  consider  her  ways  and  be  wise." 

Still  that  silence. 

"Five,"  said  the  secretary  hurriedly,  as  if  he  wished 
it  were  over.  Back  came  the  eyes  to  the  women's  side 
and  past  all  question  looked  straight  at  Hannah  Dover. 

"As  a  jewel  of  gold  in  a  swine's  snout,  so  is  a  fair 
woman  without  discretion." 

"Six,"  said  the  secretary  and  looked  appealingly  at 
father,  whose  face  was  filled  with  dismay. 

Again  Leon's  eyes  crossed  the  aisle  and  he  looked  di- 
rectly at  the  man  whom  everybody  in  the  community 
called  "  Stiff-necked  Johnny."  I  think  he  was  rather 
proud  of  it,  he  worked  so  hard  to  keep  them  doing  it. 

"Lift  not  up  your  horn  on  high:  speak  not  with  a  stiff 
neck,"  Leon  commanded  him. 

Toward  the  door  some  one  tittered. 

"Seven,"  called  the  secretary  hastily. 

Leon  glanced  around  the  room. 

"But  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to 
dwell  together  in  unity,"  he  announced  in  delighted 
tones  as  if  he  had  found  it  out  by  himself. 

"Eight,"  called  the  secretary  with  something  like  a 
breath  of  relief. 


62  LADDIE 

Our  angel  boy  never  had  looked  so  angelic,  and  he  was 
beaming  on  the  Princess. 

"Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee," 
he  told  her. 

Laddie  would  thrash  him  for  that. 

Instantly  after,  "Nine,"  he  recited  straight  at  Laddie: 
"I  made  a  covenant  with  mine  eyes;  why  then  should  I 
think  upon  a  maid?" 

More  than  one  giggled  that  time. 

"Ten!"  came  almost  sharply. 

Leon  looked  scared  for  the  first  time.  Lie  actually 
seemed  to  shiver.  Maybe  he  realized  at  last  that  it  was 
a  pretty  serious  thing  he  was  doing.  When  he  spoke  he 
said  these  words  in  the  most  surprised  voice  you  ever 
heard:  "I  was  almost  in  all  evil  in  the  midst  of  the 
congregation  and  assembly." 

"Eleven." 

Perhaps  these  words  are  in  the  Bible.  They  are  not 
there  to  read  the  way  Leon  repeated  them,  for  he  put  a 
short  pause  after  the  first  name,  and  he  glanced  toward 
our  father:  "Jesus  Christ,  the  same,  yesterday,  and  to- 
day, and  forever!" 

Sure  as  you  live  my  mother's  shoulders  shook. 

"Twelve." 

Suddenly  Leon  seemed  to  be  forsaken.  He  surely 
shrank  in  size  and  appeared  abused. 

"When  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me,  then 
the  Lord  will  take  me  up,"  he  announced,  and  looked 
as  happy  over  the  ending  as  he  had  seemed  forlorn  at 
the  beginning. 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  63 

"Thirteen." 

"The  Lord  is  on  my  side;  I  will  not  fear;  what  can  man 
do  unto  me?"  inquired  Leon  of  every  one  in  the  church. 
Then  he  soberly  made  a  bow  and  walked  to  his  seat. 

Father's  voice  broke  that  silence.  "Let  us  kneel  in 
prayer,"  he  said. 

He  took  a  step  forward,  knelt,  laid  his  hands  on  the 
altar,  closed  his  eyes  and  turned  his  face  upward. 

"Our  Heavenly  Father,  we  come  before  Thee  in  a 
trying  situation,"  he  said.  "Thy  word  of  truth  has 
been  spoken  to  us  by  a  thoughtless  boy,  whether  in  a 
spirit  of  helpfulness  or  of  jest,  Thou  knowest.  Since  we 
are  reasoning  creatures,  it  little  matters  in  what  form 
Thy  truth  comes  to  us;  the  essential  thing  is  that  we  soften 
our  hearts  for  its  entrance,  and  grow  in  grace  by  its  ap- 
plication. Tears  of  compassion  such  as  our  dear  Saviour 
wept  are  in  our  eyes  this  morning  as  we  plead  with  Thee 
to  help  us  to  apply  these  words  to  the  betterment  of  this 
community." 

Then  father  began  to  pray.  If  the  Lord  had  been  stand- 
ing six  feet  in  front  of  him,  and  his  life  had  depended  on 
what  he  said,  he  could  have  prayed  no  harder.  Goodness 
knows  how  fathers  remember.  He  began  at  "Jesus 
wept"  and  told  about  this  sinful  world  and  why  He  wept 
over  it;  then  one  at  a  time  he  took  those  other  twelve 
verses  and  hammered  them  down  where  they  belonged  much 
harder  than  Leon  ever  could  by  merely  looking  at  people. 
After  that  he  prayed  all  around  each  one  so  fervently 
that  those  who  had  been  hit  the  very  worst  cried  aloud 
and  said:  "Amen!"     You  wouldn't  think  any  one  could1 


64  LADDIE 

do  a  thing  like  that;  but  I  heard  and  saw  my  father  do 
it. 

When  he  arose  the  tears  were  running  down  his  cheeks, 
and  before  him  stood  Leon.  He  was  white  as  could  be, 
but  he  spoke  out  loudly  and  clearly. 

"Please  forgive  me,  sir;  I  didn't  intend  to  hurt  your 
feelings.  Please  every  one  forgive  me.  I  didn't  mean 
to  offend  any  one.  It  happened  through  hunting  short 
verses.  All  the  short  ones  seemed  to  be  like  that,  and 
they  made  me  think " 

He  got  no  farther.  Father  must  have  been  afraid  of 
what  he  might  say  next.  He  threw  his  arms  around 
Leon's  shoulders,  drew  him  to  the  seat,  and  with  the 
tears  still  rolling,  he  laughed  as  happily  as  you  ever 
heard,  and  he  cried:  "  'Sweeping  through  the  Gates!' 
All  join  in!" 

You  never  heard  such  singing  in  your  life.  That  was 
another  wonderful  thing.  My  father  didn't  know  the 
notes.  He  couldn't  sing;  he  said  so  himself.  Neither 
could  half  the  people  there,  yet  all  of  them  were  singing 
at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  and  I  don't  believe  the  angels 
in  Heaven  could  make  grander  music.  My  father  was 
leading: 

"These,  these  are  they,  who  in  the  conflict  dire " 


You  could  tell  Emanuel  Ripley  had  been  in  the  war 
from  the  way  he  roared : 

"Boldly  have  stood  amidst  the  hottest  hrt * 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  65 

The  Widow  Fall  soared  above  all  of  them  on  the  next 
line;  her  man  was  there,  and  maybe  she  was  lonely  and 
would  have  been  glad  to  go  to  him: 

"Jesus  now  says,  'Come  up  higher '  " 

Then  my  little  mother: 

"Washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb " 


Like  thunder  all  of  them  rolled  into  the  chorus: 

"Sweeping  through  the  gates  to  the  New  Jerusalem " 

You  wouldn't  have  been  left  out  of  that  company  for 
anything  in  all  this  world,  and  nothing  else  ever  could 
make  you  want  to  go  so  badly  as  to  hear  every  one  sing, 
straight  from  the  heart,  a  grand  old  song  like  that.  It 
is  no  right  way  to  have  to  sit  and  keep  still,  and  pay 
other  people  money  to  sing  about  Heaven  to  you.  No 
matter  if  you  can't  sing  by  note,  if  your  heart  and  soul 
are  full,  until  they  are  running  over,  so  that  you  are 
forced  to  sing  as  those  people  did,  whether  you  can  or  not, 
you  are  sure  to  be  straight  on  the  way  to  the  Gates. 

Before  three  lines  were  finished  my  father  was  keeping 
time  like  a  choirmaster,  his  face  all  beaming  with  shin- 
ing light;  mother  was  rocking  on  her  toes  like  a  wood 
robin  on  a  twig  at  twilight,  and  at  the  end  of  the  chorus 
she  cried  "Glory!"  right  out  loud,  and  turned  and  started 
down  the  aisle,  shaking  hands  with  every  one,  singing  as 
she  went.  When  she  reached  Betsey  Alton  she  held  her 
hand  and  led  her  down  the  aisle  straight  toward  Rachel 


66  LADDIE 

Brown.  When  Rachel  saw  them  coming  she  hurried  to 
meet  them,  and  they  shook  hands  and  were  glad  to  make 
up  as  any  two  people  you  ever  saw.  It  must  have  been 
perfectly  dreadful  to  see  a  woman  every  day  for  five 
years,  and  not  to  give  her  a  pie,  when  you  felt  sure  yours 
were  better  than  she  could  make,  or  loan  her  a  new  pattern, 
or  tell  her  first  who  had  a  baby,  or  was  married,  or  dead, 
or  anything  like  that.  It  was  no  wonder  they  felt  glad. 
Mother  came  on,  and  as  she  passed  me  the  verses  were 
all  finished  and  every  one  began  talking  and  moving. 
Johnny  Dover  forgot  his  neck  and  shook  hands  too,  and 
father  pronounced  the  benediction.  He  always  had  to 
when  the  minister  wasn't  there,  because  he  was  ordained 
himself,  and  you  didn't  dare  pronounce  the  benediction 
unless  you  were. 

Every  one  began  talking  again,  and  wondering  if  the 
minister  wouldn't  come  soon,  and  some  one  went  out 
to  see.  There  was  mother  standing  only  a  few  feet 
from  the  Princess,  and  I  thought  of  something.  I  had 
seen  it  done  often  enough,  but  I  never  had  tried  it  myself, 
yet  I  wanted  to  so  badly,  there  was  no  time  to  think  how 
scared  I  would  be.  I  took  mother's  hand  and  led  her  a 
few  steps  farther  and  said:  "Mother,  this  is  my  friend, 
Pamela  Pryor." 

I  believe  I  did  it  fairly  well.  Mother  must  have  been 
surprised,  but  she  put  out  her  hand. 

"I  didn't  know  Miss  Pryor  and  you  were  acquainted." 

"It's  only  been  a  little  while,"  I  told  her.  "I  met 
her  when  I  was  on  some  business  with  the  Fairies.  They 
know  everything  and  they  told  me  her  father  was  busy" — 


OUR  ANGEL  BOY  67 

I  thought  she  wouldn't  want  me  to  tell  that  he  was  plain 
cross,  where  every  one  could  hear,  so  I  said  "busy" 
for  politeness — "and  her  mother  not  very  strong,  and 
that  she  was  a  good  girl,  and  dreadfully  lonesome.  Can't 
you  do  something,  mother?" 

"Well  I  should  think  so!"  said  mother,  for  her  heart 
was  soft  as  rose  leaves.  Maybe  you  won't  believe  this, 
but  it's  quite  true.  My  mother  took  the  Princess'  arm 
and  led  her  to  Sally  and  Shelley,  and  introduced  her  to  all 
the  girls.  By  the  time  the  minister  came  and  mother 
went  back  to  her  seat,  she  had  forgotten  all  about  the 
"indisposed"  word  she  disliked,  and  as  you  live!  she 
invited  the  Princess  to  go  home  with  us  to  dinner.  She 
stood  tall  and  straight,  her  eyes  very  bright,  and  her 
cheeks  a  little  redder  than  usual,  as  she  shook  hands 
and  said  a  few  pleasant  words  that  were  like  from  a  book, 
they  fitted  and  were  so  right.  When  mother  asked  her 
to  dinner  she  said:  "Thank  you  kindly.  I  should  be 
glad  to  go,  but  my  people  expect  me  at  home  and  they 
would  be  uneasy.  Perhaps  you  would  allow  me  to  ride 
over  some  week  day  and  become  acquainted?" 

Mother  said  she  would  be  happy  to  have  her,  and  Shelley 
said  so  too,  but  Sally  was  none  too  cordial.  She  had 
dark  curls  and  pink  cheeks  herself,  and  every  one  had 
said  she  was  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  county  before  Shelley 
began  to  blossom  out  and  show  what  she  was  going 
to  be.  Sally  never  minded  that,  but  when  the  Princess 
came  she  was  a  little  taller,  and  her  hair  was  a  trifle  longer, 
and  heavier,  and  blacker,  and  her  eyes  were  a  little 
larger  and  darker,   and  where  Sally  had  pink  skin  and 


68  LADDIE 

red  lips,  the  Princess  was  dark  as  olive,  and  her  lips  and 
cheeks  were  like  red  velvet.  Anyway,  the  Princess  had 
said  she  would  come  over;  mother  and  Shelley  had  been 
decent  to  her,  and  Sally  hadn't  been  exactly  insulting. 
It  would  be  a  little  more  than  you  could  expect  for  her  to 
be  wild  about  the  Princess.  I  believe  she  was  pleased 
over  having  been  invited  to  dinner,  and  as  she  was  a 
stranger  she  couldn't  know  that  mother  had  what  we 
called  the  "  invitation  habit." 

I  have  seen  her  ask  from  fifteen  to  twenty  in  one  trip 
down  the  aisle  on  Sunday  morning.  She  wanted  them  to 
come  too;  the  more  who  came,  the  better  she  liked  it.  If 
the  hitching  rack  and  barnyard  were  full  on  Sunday  she 
just  beamed.  If  the  sermon  pleased  her,  she  invited  more. 
That  morning  she  was  feeling  so  good  she  asked  seven- 
teen; and  as  she  only  had  dressed  six  chickens — third 
table,  backs  and  ham,  for  me  as  usual;  but  when  the 
prospects  were  as  now,  I  always  managed  to  coax  a  few 
gizzards  from  Candace;  she  didn't  dare  give  me  livers — 
they  were  counted.  Almost  every  one  in  the  church  was 
the  happiest  that  morning  they  had  been  in  years.  When 
the  preacher  came,  he  breathed  it  from  the  air,  and  it 
worked  on  him  so  he  preached  the  best  sermon  he  ever 
had,  and  never  knew  that  Leon  made  him  do  it.  Maybe 
after  all  it's  a  good  thing  to  tell  people  about  their  mean- 
ness and  give  them  a  stirring  up  once  in  a  while. 


H 


CHAPTER  III 
Mr.  Pryor's  Door 

"Grief  will  be  joy  if  on  its  edge 
Fall  soft  that  holiest  ray, 
Joy  will  be  grief  if  no  faint  pledge 
Be  there  of heavenly  day." 

AVE  Sally  and  Peter  said  anything  about  get- 
ting married  yet?"  asked  my  big  sister  Lucy  of 
mother.     Lucy  was  home  on  a  visit.     She  was 
bathing  her  baby  and  mother  was  sewing. 
"Not  a  word!" 
"Are  they  engaged?" 
"Sally  hasn't  mentioned    it." 
"Well,  can't  you  find  out?" 
"How  could  I?"  asked  mother. 

"Why,  watch  them  a  little  and  see  how  they  act  when 
they  are  together.  If  he  kisses  her  when  he  leaves,  of 
course  they  are  engaged." 

"It  would  be  best  to  wait  until  Sally  tells  me,"  laughed 
mother. 

I  heard  this  from  the  back  steps.  Neither  mother 
nor  Lucy  knew  I  was  there.  I  went  in  to  see  if  they 
would  let  me  take  the  baby.  Of  course  they  wouldn't! 
Mother  took  it  herself.     She  was  rocking,  and  softly  sing- 

6q 


7o  LADDIE 

ing  my  Dutch  song  that  I  loved  best;  I  can't  spell  it, 
but  it  sounds  like  this: 

"Trus,  trus,  trill; 
Der  power  rid  der  fill, 
Fill  sphring  aveck, 
Plodschlicter  power  in  der  dreck." 

Once  I  asked  mother  to  sing  it  in  English,  and  she  couldn't 
because  it  didn't  rhyme  that  way  and  the  words  wouldn't 
fit  the  notes;  it  was  just,  "Trot,  trot,  trot,  a  boy  rode  a  colt. 
The  colt  sprang  aside;  down  went  the  boy  in  the  dirt." 

"Aw,  don't  sing  my  song  to  that  little  red,  pug-nosed 
baldhead!"  I  said. 

Really,  it  was  a  very  nice  baby;  I  only  said  that  be- 
cause I  wanted  to  hold  it,  and  mother  wouldn't  give  it  up. 
I  tried  to  coax  May  to  the  dam  snake  hunting,  but  she 
couldn't  go,  so  I  had  to  amuse  myself.  I  had  a  doll,  but 
I  never  played  with  it  except  when  I  was  dressed  up  on 
Sunday.  Anyway,  what's  the  use  of  a  doll  when  there's 
a  live  baby  in  the  house  ?  I  didn't  care  much  for  my  play^ 
house  since  I  had  seen  one  so  much  finer  that  Laddie  had 
made  for  the  Princess.  Of  course  I  knew  moss  wouldn't 
take  root  in  our  orchard  as  it  did  in  the  woods,  neither 
would  willow  cuttings  or  the  red  flowers.  Finally,  I 
decided  to  go  hunting.  I  went  into  the  garden  and  gath- 
ered every  ripe  touch-me-not  pod  I  could  find,  and  all  the 
portulaca.  Then  I  stripped  the  tiger  lilies  of  each  little 
black  ball  at  the  bases  of  the  leaves,  and  took  all  the  four 
o'clock  seed  there  was.  Then  I  got  my  biggest  alder  pop- 
gun and  started  up  the  road  toward  Sarah  Hood's. 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  71 

I  was  going  along  singing  a  little  verse;  it  wasn't  Dutch 
either;  the  old  baby  could  have  that  if  it  wanted  it.  Soon 
as  I  got  from  sight  of  the  house  I  made  a  powderhorn  of 
a  curled  leaf,  loaded  my  gun  with  portulaca  powder9 
rammed  in  a  tiger  lily  bullet,  laid  the  weapon  across  my 
shoulder,  and  stepped  high  and  lightly  as  Laddie  does 
when  he's  in  the  Big  Woods  hunting  for  squirrel.  It  must 
have  been  my  own  singing — I  am  rather  good  at  hearing 
things,  but  I  never  noticed  a  sound  that  time,  until  a 
voice  like  a  rusty  saw  said:  "Good  morning,  Nimrod!" 

I  sprang  from  the  soft  dust  and  landed  among  the  dog 
fennel  of  a  fence  corner,  in  a  flying  leap.  Then  I  looked^ 
It  was  the  Princess'  father,  tall,  and  gray,  and  grim,  riding 
a  big  black  horse  that  seemed  as  if  it  had  been  curried 
with  the  fine  comb  and  brushed  with  the  grease  rag. 

"Good  morning!"  I  said  when  I  could  speak. 

"Am  I  correct  in  the  surmise  that  you  are  on  the  chase 
with  a  popgun?"  he  asked  politely. 

"Yes  sir,"  I  answered,  getting  my  breath  the  best  I  could, 

It  came  easier  after  I  noticed  he  didn't  seem  to  be  angry 
about  anything. 

"Where  is  your  hunting  ground,  and  what  game  are 
you  after?"  he  asked  gravely. 

"You  can  see  the  great  African  jungle  over  there — I 
am  going  to  hunt  for  lions  and  tigers." 

You  always  must  answer  politely  any  one  who  speaks 
to  you;  and  you  get  soundly  thrashed,  at  least  at  our 
house,  if  you  don't  be  politest  of  all  to  an  older  person^ 
especially  with  white  hair.  Father  is  extremely  partic- 
ular about  white  hair.     It  is  a  "crown  of  glory,"  when  it  is 


72  LADDIE 

found  in  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Mahlon  Pryor  had  enough 
crown  of  glory  for  three  men,  but  maybe  his  wasn't  ex- 
actly glory,  because  he  wasn't  in  the  way  of  the  Lord. 
He  was  in  a  way  of  his  own.  He  must  have  had  much 
confidence  in  himself.  At  our  house  we  would  rather 
trust  in  the  Lord.  I  only  told  him  about  the  lions  and 
tigers  because  he  asked  me,  and  that  was  the  way  I 
played.  But  you  should  have  heard  him  laugh.  You 
wouldn't  have  supposed  to  see  him  that  he  could. 

"Umph!"  he  said  at  last.  "I  am  a  little  curious  about 
your  ammunition.  Just  how  do  you  bring  down  your  prey  ? " 

"I  use  portulaca  powder  and  tiger  lily  bullets  on  the 
tigers,  and  four  o'clocks  on  the  lions,"  I  said. 

Ycu  could  have  heard  him  a  mile,  dried  up  as  he  was. 

"I  used  to  wear  a  red  coat  and  ride  to  the  hounds  fox 
hunting,"  he  said.  "It's  great  sport.  Won't  you  take 
me  with  you  to  the  jungle  ? " 

I  didn't  want  him  in  the  least,  but  if  any  one  older  asks 
right  out  to  go  with  you,  what  can  you  do?  I  am  going 
to  tell  several  things  you  won't  believe,  and  this  is  one  of 
them:  He  got  off  his  horse,  tied  it  to  the  fence,  and 
climbed  over  after  me.  He  went  on  asking  questions  and 
of  course  I  had  to  tell  him.  Most  of  what  he  wanted  to 
know,  his  people  should  have  taught  him  before  he  was 
ten  years  old,  but  father  says  they  do  things  differently  in 
England. 

"There  doesn't  seem  to  be  many  trees  in  the  jungle." 

"Well,  there's  one,  and  it's  about  the  most  important 
©n  our  land,"  I  told  him.  "  Father  wouldn't  cut  it  down 
lor  a  farm.     You  see  that  little  dark  bag  nearly  as  big 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  73 

as  your  fist,  swinging  out  there  on  that  limb?  Well, 
every  spring  one  of  these  birds,  yellow  as  orange  peel^ 
with  velvet  black  wings,  weaves  a  nest  like  that,  and  over 
on  that  big  branch,  high  up,  one  just  as  bright  red  as  the 
other  is  yellow,  and  the  same  black  wings,  builds  a  cradle 
for  his  babies.  Father  says  a  red  bird  and  a  yellow  one 
keeping  house  in  the  same  tree  is  the  biggest  thing  that 
ever  happened  in  our  family.  They  come  every  year 
and  that  is  their  tree.  I  believe  father  would  shoot  any 
one  who  drove  them  away." 

"Your  father  is  a  gunner  also?"  he  asked,  and  I  thought 
he  was  laughing  to  himself. 

"He's  enough  of  a  gunner  to  bring  mother  in  a  wagon 
from  Pennsylvania  all  the  way  here,  and  he  kept  wolves, 
bears,  Indians,  and  Gypsies  from  her,  and  shot  things  for 
food.  Yes  sir,  my  father  can  shoot  if  he  wants  to,  better 
than  any  of  our  family  except  Laddie." 

"And  does  Laddie  shoot  well?" 

"Laddie  does  everything  well,"  I  answered  proudly. 
"  He  won't  try  to  do  anything  at  all,  until  he  practises  so 
he  can  do  it  well," 

"Score  one  for  Laddie,"  he  said  in  a  queer  voice. 

"Are  you  in  a  hurry  about  the  lions  and  tigers?" 

"Not  at  all,"  he  answered. 

"Well,  here  I  always  stop  and  let  Governor  Oglesby 
go  swimming,"  I  said. 

Mr.  Mahlon  Pryor  sat  on  the  bank  of  our  Little  Creek, 
took  off  his  hat  and  shook  back  his  hair  as  if  the  wind  felt 
good  on  his  forehead.  I  fished  Dick  Oglesby  from  the 
ammunition  in  my  apron  pocket,  and  held  him  toward 


J4  LADDIE 

the  cross  old  man,  and  he  wasn't  cross  at  all.  It's  funny 
how  you  come  to  get  such  wrong  ideas  about  people. 

"My  big  married  sister  who  lives  in  Westchester  sent 
him  to  me  last  Christmas,"  I  explained.  "I  have  another 
doll,  great  big,  with  a  Scotch  plaid  dress  made  from 
pieces  of  mine,  but  I  only  play  with  her  on  Sunday  when 
I  dare  not  do  much  else.  I  like  Dick  the  best  because 
he  fits  my  apron  pocket.  Father  wanted  me  to  change 
his  name  and  call  him  Oliver  P.  Morton,  after  a  friend  of 
his,  but  I  told  him  this  doll  had  to  be  called  by  the  name 
he  came  with,  and  if  he  wanted  me  to  have  one  named 
for  his  friend,  to  get  it,  and  I'd  play  with  it." 

"What  did  he  do?" 

"He  didn't  want  one  named  Morton  that  much." 

Mr.  Pryor  took  Dick  Oglesby  in  his  fingers  and  looked 
at  his  curly  black  hair  and  blue  eyes,  his  chubby  out- 
stretched arms,  like  a  baby  when  it  wants  you  to  take  it, 
and  his  plump  little  feet  and  the  white  shirt  with  red 
stripes  all  a  piece  of  him  as  he  was  made,  and  said:  "The 
honourable  governor  of  our  sister  state  seems  a  little 
weighty;  I  am  at  loss  to  understand  how  he  swims." 

"It's  a  new  way,"  I  said.  "He  just  stands  still  and 
the  water  swims  around  him.     It's  very  easy  for  him." 

Then  I  carried  Dick  to  the  water,  waded  in  and  stood 
him  against  a  stone.  Something  funny  happened  instantly. 
It  always  did.  I  found  it  out  one  day  when  I  got  some 
apple  butter  on  the  governor  giving  him  a  bite  of  my 
bread,  and  put  him  in  the  wash  bowl  to  soak.  He  was 
two  and  a  half  inches  tall;  but  the  minute  you  stood  him 
in  water  he  went  down  to  about  half  that  height  and 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  75 

spread  out  to  twice  his  size  around.  You  should  have 
heard  Mr.  Pryor. 

"If  you  will  lie  on  the  bank  and  watch  you'll  have 
more  to  laugh  at  than  that,"  I  promised. 

He  lay  down  and  never  paid  the  least  attention  to  his 
clothes.  Pretty  soon  a  little  chub  fish  came  swimming 
around  Lo  make  friends  with  Governor  Oglesby,  and  then 
a  shiner  and  some  more  chub.  They  nibbled  at  his  hands 
and  toes,  and  then  went  flashing  away,  and  from  under  the 
stone  came  backing  a  big  crayfish  and  seized  the  governor 
by  the  leg  and  started  dragging  him,  so  I  had  to  jump  in 
and  stop  it.  I  took  a  shot  at  the  crayfish  with  the  tiger 
ammunition  and  then  loaded  for  lions. 

We  went  on  until  the  marsh  became  a  thicket  of  cat= 
tails,  bullrushes,  willow  bushes,  and  blue  flags;  then  I 
found  a  path  where  the  lions  left  the  jungle,  hid  Mr, 
Pryor  and  told  him  he  must  be  very  still  or  they  wouldn't 
come.  At  last  I  heard  one.  I  touched  Mr.  Pryor's  sleeve 
to  warn  him  to  keep  his  eyes  on  the  trail.  Pretty  soon  the 
lion  came  in  sight.  Really  it  was  only  a  little  gray  rabbit 
hopping  along,  but  when  it  was  opposite  us,  I  pinged  it  in 
the  side,  it  jumped  up  and  turned  a  somersault  with  sur- 
prise, and  squealed  a  funny  little  squeal, — well,  I  won= 
dered  if  Mr.  Pryor's  people  didn't  hear  him,  and  think  he 
had  gone  crazy  as  Paddy  Ryan.  I  never  did  hear  any 
one  laugh  so.  I  thought  if  he  enjoyed  it  like  that,  I'd 
let  him  shoot  one.  I  do  May  sometimes;  so  we  went  to 
another  place  I  knew  where  there  was  a  tiger's  den,  and 
I  loaded  with  tiger  lily  bullets,  gave  him  the  gun  and 
showed  him  where  to  aim.     After  we  had  waited  a  long 


76  LADDIE 

time  out  came  a  muskrat,  and  started  for  the  river.  I 
looked  to  see  why  Mr.  Pryor  didn't  shoot,  and  there  he  was 
gazing  at  it  as  if  a  snake  had  charmed  him;  his  hands  shak- 
ing a  little,  his  cheeks  almost  red,  his  eyes  very  bright. 

"Shoot!"  I  whispered.     "It  won't  stay  all  day!" 

He  forgot  how  to  push  the  ramrod  like  I  showed  him,  s© 
he  reached  out  and  tried  to  hit  it  with  the  gun. 

"Don't  do  that!"  I  said. 

"But  it's  getting  away!     It's  getting  away!"  he  cried. 

"Well,  what  if  it  is?"  I  asked,  half  provoked.  "Do 
you  suppose  I  really  would  hurt  a  poor  little  muskrat? 
Maybe  it  has  six  hungry  babies  in  its  home." 

"Oh  that  way,"  he  said,  but  he  kept  looking  at  it,  so  he 
made  me  think  if  I  hadn't  been  there,  he  would  have 
thrown  a  stone  or  hit  it  with  a  stick.  It  is  perfectly  won- 
derful about  how  some  men  can't  get  along  without  kill- 
ing things,  such  little  bits  of  helpless  creatures  too.  I 
thought  he'd  better  be  got  from  the  jungle,  so  I  invited 
him  to  see  the  place  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  below  our  or- 
chard where  some  men  thought  they  had  discovered  gold 
before  the  war.  They  had  been  to  California  in  '49,  and 
although  they  didn't  come  home  with  millions,  or  any- 
thing else  except  sick  and  tired,  they  thought  they  had 
learned  enough  about  gold  to  know  it  when  they  saw 
it. 

I  told  him  about  it  and  he  was  interested  and  anxious 
to  see  the  place.  If  there  had  been  a  shovel,  I  am  quite 
sure  he  would  have  gone  to  digging.  He  kept  poking 
around  with  his  boot  toe,  and  he  said  maybe  the  yokels 
didn't  look  good. 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  77 

He  said  our  meadow  was  a  beautiful  place,  and  when 
he  praised  the  creek  I  told  him  about  the  wild  ducks,  and 
he  laughed  again.  He  didn't  seem  to  be  the  same  man 
when  we  went  back  to  the  road.  I  pulled  some  sweet 
marsh  grass  and  gave  his  horse  bites,  so  Mr.  Pryor  asked 
if  I  liked  animals.  I  said  I  loved  horses,  Laddie's  best  of 
all.     He  asked  about  it  and  I  told  him. 

"Hasn't  your  father  but  one  thoroughbred?" 

"Father  hasn't  any,"  I  said.  "Flos  really  belongs  to 
Laddie,  and  we  are  mighty  glad  he  has  her." 

"You  should  have  one  soon,  yourself,"  he  said. 

"Well,  if  the  rest  of  them  will  hurry  up  and  marry  off, 
so  the  expenses  won't  be  so  heavy,  maybe  I  can." 

"How  many  of  you  are  there?"  he  asked. 

"Only  twelve,"  I  said. 

He  looked  down  the  road  at  our  house. 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  have  twelve  children 
there?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh  no!"  I  answered.  "Some  of  the  big  boys  have 
gone  into  business  in  the  cities  around,  and  some  of  the 
girls  are  married.  Mother  says  she  has  only  to  show  her 
girls  in  the  cities  to  have  them  snapped  up  like  hot 
cakes." 

"I  fancy  that  is  the  truth,"  he  said.  "I've  passed  the 
one  who  rides  the  little  black  pony  and  she  is  a  picture. 
A  fine,  healthy,  sensible-appearing  young  woman!" 

"I  don't  think  she's  as  pretty  as  your  girl,"  I  said. 

"Perhaps  I  don't  either,"  he  replied,  smiling  at  me. 

Then  he  mounted  his  horse. 

"I  don't  remember  that  I  ever  have  passed  that  house," 


78  LADDIE 

he  said,  "without  hearing  some  one  singing.  Does  it  go 
on  all  the  time?" 

"Yes,  unless  mother  is  sick." 

"And  what  is  it  all  about?" 

"Oh  just  joy!  Gladness  that  we  are  alive,  that  we 
have  things  to  do  that  we  like,  and  praising  the  Lord." 

"Umph!"saidMr.  Pryor. 

"It's  just  letting  out  what  our  hearts  are  full  of,"  I 
told  him.     "  Don't  you  know  that  song: 

"'Tis  the  old  time  religion 

And  you  cannot  keep  it  still?'" 

He  shook  his  head. 

"It's  an  awful  nice  song,"  I  explained.  "After  it 
sings  about  all  the  other  things  religion  is  good  for,  there 
is  one  line  that  says :     '  It's  good  for  those  in  trouble.' " 

I  looked  at  him  straight  and  hard,  but  he  only  turned 
white  and  seemed  sick. 

"So?"  said  Mr.  Pryor.  "Well,  thank  you  for  the  most 
interesting  morning  I've  had  this  side  England.  I  should 
be  delighted  if  you  would  come  and  hunt  lions  in  my 
woods  with  me  some  time." 

"Oh,  do  you  open  the  door  to  children?" 

"Certainly  we  open  the  door  to  children,"  he  said,  and 
as  I  live,  he  looked  so  sad  I  couldn't  help  thinking  he 
was  sorry  to  close  it  against  any  one.  A  mystery  is  the 
dreadfulest  thing. 

"Then  if  children  don't  matter,  maybe  I  can  come  lion- 
hunting  some  time  with  the  Princess,  after  she  has  made 
the  visit  at  our  house  she  said  she  would." 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  79 

"  Indeed !  I  hadn't  been  informed  that  my  daughter  con- 
templated visiting  your  house,"  he  said.  "When  was  it 
arranged  ? " 

"My  mother  invited  her  last  Sunday." 

I  didn't  like  the  way  he  said:  "O-o-o-h!"  Some  way 
it  seemed  insulting  to  my  mother. 

"She  did  it  to  please  me,"  I  said.  "There  was  a 
Fairy  Princess  told  me  the  other  day  that  your  girl  felt 
like  a  stranger,  and  that  to  be  a  stranger  was  the  hardest 
thing  in  all  the  world.  She  sat  a  little  way  from  the 
others,  and  she  looked  so  lonely.  I  pulled  my  mother's 
sleeve  and  led  her  to  your  girl  and  made  them  shake  hands, 
and  then  mother  had  to  ask  her  to  come  to  dinner  with 
us.  She  always  invites  every  one  she  meets  coming 
down  the  aisle;  she  couldn't  help  asking  your  girl,  too. 
She  said  she  was  expected  at  home,  but  she'd  come  some 
day  and  get  acquainted.  She  needn't  if  you  object. 
My  mother  only  asked  her  because  she  thought  she  was 
lonely,  and  maybe  she  wanted  to  come." 

He  sat  there  staring  straight  ahead  and  he  seemed  to 
grow  whiter,  and  older,  and  colder  every  minute. 

"Possibly  she  is  lonely,"  he  said  at  last.  "This  isn't 
much  like  the  life  she  left.  Perhaps  she  does  feel  herself 
a  stranger.  It  was  very  kind  of  your  mother  to  invite 
her.     If  she  wants  to  come,  I  shall  make  no  objections." 

"No,  but  my  father  will,"  I  said. 

He  straightened  up  as  if  something  had  hit  him. 

"Why  will  he  object?" 

"On  account  of  what  you  said  about  God  at  our  house," 
I  told  him.     "And  then,  too,  father's  people  were  from 


80  LADDIE 

England,  and  he  says  real  Englishmen  have  their  doors 
wide  open,  and  welcome  people  who  offer  friendliness." 

Mr.  Pryor  hit  his  horse  an  awful  blow.  It  reared  and 
went  racing  up  the  road  until  I  thought  it  was  running 
away.  I  could  see  I  had  made  him  angry  enough  to 
burst.  Mother  always  tells  me  not  to  repeat  things;  but 
I'm  not  smart  enough  to  know  what  to  say,  so  I  don't  see 
what  is  left  but  to  tell  what  mother,  or  father,  or  Laddie 
says  when  grown  people  ask  me  questions. 

I  went  home,  but  every  one  was  too  busy  even  to  look 
at  me,  so  I  took  Bobby  under  my  arm,  hunted  father,  and 
told  him  all  about  the  morning.  I  wondered  what  he 
would  think.  I  never  found  out.  He  wouldn't  say  any- 
thing, so  Bobby  and  I  went  across  the  lane,  and  climbed 
the  gate  into  the  orchard  to  see  if  Hezekiah  were  there  and 
wanted  to  fight.  He  hadn't  time  to  fight  Bobby  because 
he  was  busy  chasing  every  wild  jay  from  our  orchard. 
By  the  time  he  got  that  done,  he  was  tired,  so  he  came 
hopping  along  on  branches  above  us  as  Bobby  and  I  went 
down  the  west  fence  beside  the  lane. 

If  I  had  been  compelled  to  choose  the  side  of  our 
orchard  I  liked  best,  I  don't  know  which  I  would  have 
selected.  The  west  side — that  is,  the  one  behind  the 
dooryard — was  running  over  with  interesting  things. 
Two  gates  opened  into  it,  one  from  near  each  corner  of 
the  yard.  Between  these  there  was  quite  a  wide  level 
space,  where  mother  fed  the  big  chickens  and  kept  the 
hens  in  coops  with  little  ones.  She  had  to  have  them 
close  enough  that  the  big  hawks  were  afraid  to  come  to 
earth,  or  they  would  take  more  chickens  than  they  could 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  81 

pay  for,  by  cleaning  rabbits,  snakes,  and  mice  from  the 
fields.  Then  came  a  double  row  of  prize  peach  trees;  rare 
fruit  that  mother  canned  to  take  to  county  fairs.  One 
bore  big,  white  freestones,  and  around  the  seed  they  were 
pink  as  a  rose.  One  was  a  white  cling,  and  one  was 
yellow.  There  was  a  yellow  freestone  as  big  as  a  young 
sun,  and  as  golden,  and  the  queerest  of  all  was  a  cling 
purple  as  a  beet. 

Sometimes  father  read  about  the  hairs  of  the  head 
being  numbered,  because  we  were  so  precious  in  the  sight 
of  the  Almighty.  Mother  was  just  as  particular  with  her 
purple  tree;  every  peach  on  it  was  counted,  and  if  we 
found  one  on  the  ground,  we  had  to  carry  it  to  her,  be- 
cause it  might  be  sound  enough  to  can  or  spice  for  a  fair, 
or  she  had  promised  the  seed  to  some  one  halfway  across 
the  state.  At  each  end  of  the  peach  row  was  an  enormous 
big  pear  tree;  not  far  from  one  the  chicken  house  stood  on 
the  path  to  the  barn,  and  beside  the  other  the  smoke  house 
with  the  dog  kennel  a  yard  away.  Father  said  there 
was  a  distinct  relationship  between  a  smoke  house  and  a 
dog  kennel,  and  bulldogs  were  best.  Just  at  present  we 
were  out  of  bulldogs,  but  Jones,  Jenkins  and  Co.  could 
make  as  much  noise  as  any  dog  you  ever  heard.  On  the 
left  grew  the  plum  trees  all  the  way  to  the  south  fence, 
and  I  think  there  was  one  of  every  kind  in  the  fruit 
catalogues.  Father  spent  hours  pruning,  grafting,  and 
fertilizing  them.  He  said  they  required  twice  as  much 
work  as  peaches. 

Around  the  other  sides  of  the  orchard  were  two  rows  of 
peach  trees  of  every  variety;  but  one  cling  on  the  north 


82  LADDIE 

was  just  a  little  the  best  of  any,  and  we  might  eat  all  we 
wanted  from  any  tree  we  liked,  after  father  tested  them 
and  said:  "Peaches  are  ripe!"  In  the  middle  were  the 
apple;  selected  trees,  planted,  trimmed,  and  cultivated 
like  human  beings.  The  apples  were  so  big  and  fine  they 
were  picked  by  hand,  wrapped  in  paper,  packed  in  barrels, 
and  all  we  could  not  use  at  home  went  to  J.  B.  White 
in  Fort  Wayne  for  the  biggest  fruit  house  in  the  state 
My!  but  father  was  proud!  He  always  packed  es- 
pecially fine  ones  for  Mr.  White's  family.  He  said  he 
liked  him,  because  he  was  a  real  sandy  Scotchman, 
who  knew  when  an  apple  was  right,  and  wasn't  afraid  to 
say  so. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  orchard  there  was  the  earliest 
June  apple  tree.  The  apples  were  small,  bright  red  with 
yellow  stripes,  crisp,  juicy  and  sweet  enough  to  be  just 
right.  The  tree  was  very  large,  and  so  heavy  it  leaned 
far  to  the  northeast.  This  sounds  like  make-believe,  but 
it's  gospel  truth.  Almost  two  feet  from  the  ground  there 
was  a  big  round  growth,  the  size  of  a  hash  bowl.  The 
tree  must  have  been  hurt  when  very  small  and  the  place 
enlarged  with  the  trunk.  Now  it  made  a  grand  step. 
If  you  understood  that  no  one  could  keep  from  running 
the  last  few  rods  from  the  tree,  then  figured  on  the  help 
to  be  had  from  this  step,  you  could  see  how  we  went  up  it 
like  squirrels.  All  the  bark  on  the  south  side  was  worn 
away  and  the  trunk  was  smooth  and  shiny.  The  birds 
loved  to  nest  among  the  branches,  and  under  the  peach 
tree  in  the  fence  corner  opposite  was  a  big  bed  of  my 
mother's  favourite  wild  flowers,  blue-eyed  Marys.     They 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  83 

had  dainty  stems  from  six  to  eight  inches  high  and  delicate 
heads  of  bloom  made  up  of  little  flowers,  two  petals  up, 
blue,  two  turning  down,  white.  Perhaps  you  don't  know 
about  anything  prettier  than  that.  There  were  maiden- 
hair ferns  among  them  too!  and  the  biggest  lichens  you 
ever  saw  on  the  fence,  while  in  the  hollow  of  a  rotten  rail 
a  little  chippy  bird  always  built  a  hair  nest.  She  got  the 
hairs  at  our  barn,  for  most  of  them  were  gray  from  our 
carriage  horses,  Ned  and  Jo.  All  down  that  side  of  the 
« orchard  the  fence  corners  were  filled  with  long  grass  and 
wild  flowers,  a  few  alder  bushes  left  to  furnish  berries  for  the 
birds,  and  wild  roses  for  us,  to  keep  their  beauty  impressed 
on  us,  father  said. 

The  east  end  ran  along  the  brow  of  a  hill  so  steep  we 
coasted  down  it  on  the  big  meat  board  all  winter.  The 
board  was  six  inches  thick,  two  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and 
six  long.  Father  said  slipping  over  ice  and  snow  gave  it 
the  good  scouring  it  needed,  and  it  was  thick  enough  to 
last  all  our  lives,  so  we  might  play  with  it  as  we  pleased. 
At  least  seven  of  us  could  go  skimming  down  that  hill  and 
halfway  across  the  meadow  on  it.  In  the  very  place  we 
slid  across,  in  summer  lay  the  cowslip  bed.  The  world  is 
full  of  beautiful  spots,  but  I  doubt  if  any  of  them  ever 
were  prettier  than  that.  Father  called  it  swale.  We 
didn't  sink  deep,  but  all  summer  there  was  water  standing 
there.  The  grass  was  long  and  very  sweet,  there  were 
ferns  and  a  few  calamus  flowers,  and  there  must  have 
been  an  acre  of  cowslips — cowslips  with  big-veined, 
heartshaped,  green  leaves,  and  large  pale  gold  flowers, 
I    used    to    sit    on    the    top    rail   of  that   orchard    fence 


84  LADDIE 

and  look  down  at  them,  and  try  to  figure  out  what 
God  was  thinking  when  He  created  them,  and  I  wished 
that  I  might  have  been  where  I  could  watch  His  face  as 
He  worked. 

Halfway  across  the  east  side  was  a  gulley  where  Leon 
and  I  found  the  Underground  Station,  and  from  any 
place  along  the  north  you  looked,  you  saw  the  Little 
Creek  and  the  marsh.  At  the  same  time  the  cowslips 
were  most  golden,  the  marsh  was  blue  with  flags,  pink 
with  smart  weed,  white  and  yellow  with  dodder,  yellow 
with  marsh  buttercups  having  ragged  frosty  leaves, 
while  the  yellow  and  the  red  birds  flashed  above  it, 
the  red  crying,  "Chip,"  "Chip,"  in  short,  sharp  notes, 
the  yellow  spilling  music  all  over  the  marsh  while  on 
wing. 

It  would  take  a  whole  book  to  describe  the  butterflies; 
once  in  a  while  you  scared  up  a  big,  wonderful  moth,  large 
as  a  sparrow;  and  the  orchard  was  alive  with  doves, 
thrushes,  catbirds,  bluebirds,  vireos,  and  orioles.  When 
you  climbed  the  fence,  or  a  tree,  and  kept  quiet,  and 
heard  the  music  and  studied  the  pictures,  it  made  you 
feel  as  if  you  had  to  put  it  into  words.  I  often  had  meet- 
ing all  by  myself,  unless  Bobby  and  Hezekiah  were  along, 
and  I  tried  to  tell  God  what  I  thought  about  things. 
Probably  He  was  so  busy  making  more  birds  and  flowers 
for  other  worlds,  He  never  heard  me;  but  I  didn't  say 
anything  disrespectful  at  all,  so  it  made  no  difference  if 
He  did  listen.  It  just  seemed  as  if  I  must  tell  what  I 
thought,  and  I  felt  better,  not  so  full  and  restless  after  I 
had  finished. 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  85 

Afl  of  us  were  alike  about  that.  At  that  minute  I 
knew  mother  was  humming,  as  she  did  a  dozen  times  a 
day: 

"I  think  when  I  read  that  sweet  story  of  old, 
When  Jesus  was  here  among  men 
How  He  called  little  children  as  lambs  to  His  fold, 
I  should  like  to  have  been  with  Him  then." 

Lucy  would  be  rocking  her  baby  and  singing,  "Hush,  my 
dear,  lie  still  and  slumber."  Candace's  favourite  she  made 
up  about  her  man  who  had  been  killed  in  the  war,  when 
they  had  been  married  only  six  weeks,  which  hadn't 
given  her  time  to  grow  tired  of  him  if  he  hadn't  been 
"all  her  fancy  painted."  She  arranged  the  words  like 
"Ben  Battle  was  a  soldier  bold,"  and  she  sang  them  to 
suit  herself,  and  cried  every  single  minute: 

"They  wrapped  him  in  his  uniform, 
They  laid  him  in  the  tomb, 
My  aching  heart  I  thought  'twould  break, 
But  such  was  my  sad  doom." 

Candace  just  loved  that  song.  She  sang  it  all  the  time. 
Leon  said  our  pie  always  tasted  salty  from  her  tears,  and 
he'd  take  a  bite  and  smile  at  her  sweetly  and  say:  "How 
uniform  you  get  your  pie,  Candace!" 

May's  favourite  was  "Joy  Bells."  Father  would  be 
whispering  over  to  himself  the  speech  he  was  preparing 
to  make  at  the  next  prayer-meeting.  We  never  could 
learn  his  speeches,  because  he  read  and  studied  so  much  it 
kept  his  head  so  full,  he  made  a  new  one  every  time.     You 


86  LADDIE 

could  hear  Laddie's  deep  bass  booming  the  "  Bedouin  Love 
Song"  for  a  mile;  this  minute  it  came  rolling  across  the  corn : 

"Open  the  door  of  thy  heart, 
And  open  thy  chamber  door, 
And  my  kisses  shall  teach  thy  lips 
The  love  that  shall  fade  no  more 
Till  the  sun  grows  cold, 
And  the  stars  are  old, 
And  the  leaves  of  the  Judgment 
Book  unfold!" 

I  don't  know  how  the  Princess  stood  it.  If  he  had 
been  singing  that  song  where  I  could  hear  it  and  I  had 
known  it  was  about  me,  as  she  must  have  known  he 
meant  her,  I  couldn't  have  kept  my  arms  from  around  his 
neck.     Over  in  the  barn  Leon  was  singing: 

"A  life  on  the  ocean  wave, 
A  home  on  the  rolling  deep, 
Where  codfish  waggle  their  tails 
'Mid  tadpoles  two  feet  deep." 

The  minute  he  finished,  he  would  begin  reciting  "Marco 
Bozzaris,"  and  you  could  be  sure  that  he  would  reach  the 
last  line,  only  to  commence  on  the  speech  of  "Logan,  Chief 
of  the  Mingoes,"  or  any  one  of  fifty  others.  He  could 
make  your  hair  stand  a  little  straighter  than  any  one  else; 
the  best  teachers  we  ever  had,  or  even  Laddie,  couldn't 
make  you  shivery  and  creepy  as  he  could.  Because  all 
of  us  kept  going  like  that  every  day,  people  couldn't  pass 
without  hearing,  so  that  was  what  Mr.  Pryor  meant. 

I  had  a  pulpit  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  orchard. 
I  liked  that  place  best  of  all  because  from  it  you  could  see 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  87 

two  sides  at  once.  The  ^ery  first  little,  old  log  cabin  that 
had  been  on  our  land,  the  one  my  father  and  mother  moved 
into,  had  stood  in  that  corner.  It  was  all  gone  now;  but  a 
flowerbed  of  tiny,  purple  iris,  not  so  tall  as  the  grass, 
spread  there,  and  some  striped  grass  in  the  shadiest 
places,  and  among  the  flowers  a  lark  brooded  every  spring. 
In  the  fence  corner  mother's  big  white  turkey  hen  always 
nested.  To  protect  her  from  rain  and  too  hot  sun,  father 
had  slipped  some  boards  between  the  rails  about  three  feet 
from  the  ground.  After  the  turkey  left,  that  was  my  pulpit. 
I  stood  there  and  used  the  top  of  the  fence  for  my  railing. 

The  little  flags  and  all  the  orchard  and  birds  were  behind 
me;  on  one  hand  was  the  broad,  grassy  meadow  with 
the  creek  running  so  swiftly  I  could  hear  it,  and  the 
breath  of  the  cowslips  came  up  the  hill.  Straight  in  front 
was  the  lane  running  down  from  the  barn,  crossing  the 
creek  and  spreading  into  the  woods  pasture,  where  the 
water  ran  wider  and  yet  swifter,  big  forest  trees  grew, 
and  bushes  of  berries,  pawpaws,  willow,  everything  ever 
found  in  an  Indiana  thicket;  grass  under  foot,  and  many 
wild  flowers  and  ferns  wherever  the  cattle  and  horses 
didn't  trample  them,  and  bigger,  wilder  birds,  many 
having  names  I  didn't  know.  On  the  left,  across  the  lane, 
was  a  large  cornfield,  with  trees  here  and  there,  and  down 
the  valley  I  could  see  the  Big  Creek  coming  from  the  west, 
the  Big  Hill  with  the  church  on  top,  and  always  the  white 
gravestones  around  it.  Always  too  there  was  the  sky 
overhead,  often  with  clouds  banked  until  you  felt  if  you 
only  could  reach  them,  you  could  climb  straight  to  the 
gates  that  father  was  so  fond  of  singing  about  sweeping 


88  LADDIE 

through.  Mostly  there  was  a  big  hawk  or  a  turkey 
buzzard  hanging  among  them,  just  to  show  us  that  we 
were  not  so  much,  and  that  we  couldn't  shoot  them,  unless 
they  chose  to  come  down  and  give  us  a  chance. 

I  set  Bobby  and  Hezekiah  on  the  fence  and  stood  be- 
tween them.  "We  will  open  service  this  morning  by 
singing  the  thirty-fifth  hymn,"  I  said.  "  Sister  Dover,  will 
you  pitch  the  tune?" 

Then  I  made  my  voice  high  and  squeally  like  hers  and  sang : 

"  Come  ye  that  love  the  Lord, 
And  let  your  joys  be  known, 
Join  in  a  song  of  sweet  accord, 
And  thus  surround  the  throne." 

I  sang  all  of  it  and  then  said:  "Brother  Hastings,  will 
you  lead  us  in  prayer?" 

Then  I  knelt  down,  and  prayed  Brother  Hastings' 
prayer.  I  could  have  repeated  any  one  of  a  dozen  of  the 
prayers  the  men  of  our  church  prayed,  but  I  liked  Brother 
Hastings'  best,  because  it  had  the  biggest  words  in  it. 
I  loved  words  that  filled  your  mouth,  and  sounded  as 
if  you  were  used  to  books.  It  began  sort  of  sing-songy 
and  measured  in  stops,  like  a  poetry  piece: 

"Our  Heavenly  Father:  We  come  before  Thee  this  morning, 
Humble  worms  of  the  dust,  imploring  thy  blessing. 
We  beseech  Thee  to  forgive  our  transgressions, 
Heal  our  backslidings,  and  love  us  freely." 

Sometimes  from  there  on  it  changed  a  little,  but  it 
always  began  and  ended  exactly  the  same  way.  Father 
said  Brother  Hastings  was  powerful  in  prayer,  but  he  did 


I 

MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  89 

wish  he'd  leave  out  the  "worms  of  the  dust."  He  said 
we  were  not  "worms  of  the  dust";  we  were  reasoning, 
progressive,  inventive  men  and  women.  He  said  a  worm 
would  never  be  anything  except  a  worm,  but  we  could 
study  and  improve  ourselves,  help  others,  make  great 
machines,  paint  pictures,  write  books,  and  go  to  an  extent 
that  must  almost  amaze  the  Almighty  Himself.  He  said 
that  if  Brother  Hastings  had  done  more  plowing  in  his 
time,  and  had  a  little  closer  acquaintance  with  worms, 
he  wouldn't  be  so  ready  to  call  himself  and  every  one 
else  a  worm.  Now  if  you  are  talking  about  cutworms 
or  fishworms,  father  is  right.  But  there  is  that  place 
where — "Charles  his  heel  had  raised,  upon  the  humble 
worm  to  tread,"  and  the  worm  lifted  up  its  voice  and 
spake  thus  to  Charles : 

"I  know  I'm  now  among  the  things 
Uncomely  to  your  sight, 
But,  by  and  by,  on  splendid  wings, 
You'll  see  me  high  and  bright." 

Now  I'll  bet  a  cent  that  is  the  kind  of  worm  Brother 
Hastings  said  we  were.  I  must  speak  to  father  about 
it.  I  don't  want  him  to  be  mistaken;  and  I  really  think 
he  is  about  worms.  Of  course  he  knows  the  kind  that 
have  wings  and  fly.  Brother  Hastings  mixed  him  up  by 
saying  "worms  of  the  dust"  when  he  should  have  said 
worms  of  the  leaves.  Those  that  go  into  little  round  cases 
in  earth  or  spin  cocoons  on  trees  always  live  on  leaves,  and 
many  of  them  rear  the  head,  having  large  horns,  and  wave 
it  in  a  manner  far  from  humble.  So  father  and  Brother 
Hastings  were  both  partly  right,  and  partly  wrong. 


90  LADDIE 

When  the  prayer  came  to  a  close,  where  every  one 
always  said  "Amen,"  I  punched  Bobby  and  whispered, 
"Crow,  Bobby,  crow!',  and  he  stood  up  and  brought  it  out 
strong,  like  he  always  did  when  I  told  him.  I  had  to  stop 
the  service  to  feed  him  a  little  wheat,  to  pay  him  for  crow- 
ing; but  as  no  one  was  there  except  us,  that  didn't  matter. 
Then  Hezekiah  crowded  over  for  some,  so  I  had  to  pretend 
I  was  Mrs.  Daniels  feeding  her  children  caraway  cake, 
like  she  always  did  in  meeting.  If  I  had  been  the  mother 
of  children  who  couldn't  have  gone  without  things  to  eat 
in  church  I'd  have  kept  them  at  home.  Mrs.  Daniels  al- 
ways had  the  carpet  greasy  with  cake  crumbs  wherever 
she  sat,  and  mother  didn't  think  the  Lord  liked  a  dirty 
church  any  more  than  we  would  have  wanted  a  mussy 
house.  When  I  had  Bobby  and  Hezekiah  settled  I  took 
my  text  from  my  head,  because  I  didn't  know  the  meet- 
ing feeling  was  coming  on  me  when  I  started,  and  I  had 
brought  no  Bible  along. 

"Blessed  are  all  men,  but  most  blessed  are  they  who 
hold  their  tempers."  I  had  to  stroke  Bobby  a  little  and 
pat  Hezekiah  once  in  a  while,  to  keep  them  from  flying 
down  and  righting,  but  mostly  I  could  give  my  attention 
to  my  sermon. 

"We  have  only  to  look  around  us  this  morning  to  see 
that  all  men  are  blessed,"  I  said.  "The  sky  is  big  enough 
to  cover  every  one.  If  the  sun  gets  too  hot,  there  are  trees 
for  shade  or  the  clouds  come  up  for  a  while.  If  the  earth 
becomes  too  dry,  it  always  rains  before  it  is  everlastingly 
too  late.  There  are  birds  enough  to  sing  for  every  one, 
butterflies  enough  to  go  around,   and  so  many  flowers 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  91 

we  can't  always  keep  the  cattle  and  horses  from  tramping 
down  and  even  devouring  beautiful  ones,  like  Daniel 
thought  the  lions  would  devour  him — but  they  didn't. 
Wouldn't  it  be  a  good  idea,  O  Lord,  for  You  to  shut  the 
cows'  mouths  and  save  the  cowslips  also;  they  may  not 
be  worth  as  much  as  a  man,  but  they  are  lots  better  look- 
ing, and  they  make  fine  greens.  It  doesn't  seem  right  for 
cows  to  eat  flowers;  but  maybe  it  is  as  right  for  them  as 
it  is  for  us.  The  best  way  would  be  for  our  cattle  to  do 
like  that  piece  about  the  cow  in  the  meadow  exactly  the 
same  as  ours: 

"'And  through  it  ran  a  little  brook, 

Where  oft  the  cows  would  drink, 
And  then  lie  down  among  the  flowers, 
That  grew  upon  the  brink.' 

"You  notice,  0  Lord,  the  cows  did  not  eat  the  flowers 
in  this  instance;  they  merely  rested  among  them,  and 
goodness  knows,  that's  enough  for  any  cow.  They  had 
better  done  like  the  next  verse,  where  it  says: 

"'They  like  to  lie  beneath  the  trees, 
All  shaded  by  the  boughs, 
Whene'er  the  noontide  heat  came  on: 
Sure,  they  were  happy  cows!' 

"Now,  O  Lord,  this  plainly  teaches  that  if  cows  are 
happy,  men  should  be  much  more  so,  for  like  the  cows, 
they  have  all  Thou  canst  do  for  them,  and  all  they  can 
do  for  themselves,  besides.  So  every  man  is  blessed, 
because  Thy  bounty  has  provided  all  these  things  for  him, 
without  money  and  without  price.  If  some  men  are  not 
so  blessed  as  others,  it  is  their  own  fault,  and  not  Yours. 


92  LADDIE 

You  made  the  earth,  and  all  that  is  therein,  and  You  made 
the  men.  Of  course  You  had  to  make  men  different,  so 
each  woman  can  tell  which  one  belongs  to  her;  but  I 
believe  it  would  have  been  a  good  idea  while  You  were 
at  it,  if  You  would  have  made  all  of  them  enough  alike 
that  they  would  all  work.  Perhaps  it  isn't  polite  of  me  to 
ask  more  of  You  than  You  saw  fit  to  do;  and  then,  again, 
it  may  be  that  there  are  some  things  impossible,  even  to 
You.  If  there  is  anything  at  all,  seems  as  if  making 
Isaac  Thomas  work  would  be  it.  Father  says  that  man 
would  rather  starve  and  see  his  wife  and  children  hungry 
than  to  take  off  his  coat,  roll  up  his  sleeves,  and  plow  corn; 
so  it  was  good  enough  for  him  when  Leon  said,  'Go  to  the 
ant,  thou  sluggard,'  right  at  him.  So,  of  course,  Isaac 
is  not  so  blessed  as  some  men,  because  he  won't  work,  and 
thus  he  never  knows  whether  he's  going  to  have  a  big 
dinner  on  Sunday,  until  after  some  one  asks  him,  because 
he  looks  so  empty.  Mother  thinks  it  isn't  fair  to  feed 
Isaac  and  send  him  home  with  his  stomach  full,  while 
Mandy  and  the  babies  are  sick  and  hungry.  But  Isaac 
is  some  blessed,  because  he  has  religion  and  gets  real 
happy,  and  sings,  and  shouts,  and  he's  going  to  Heaven 
when  he  dies.  He  must  wish  he'd  go  soon,  especially  in 
winter. 

"There  are  men  who  do  not  have  even  this  blessing,  and 
to  make  things  worse,  O  Lord,  they  get  mad  as  fire  and  hit 
their  horses,  and  look  like  all  possessed.  The  words  of  my 
text  this  morning  apply  especially  to  a  man  who  has  all 
the  blessings  Thou  hast  showered  and  flowered  upon  men 
^Ho  work*  or  whose  people  worked  and  left  them  so  much 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  93 

money  they  don't  need  to,  and  yet  a  sadder  face  I  never 
saw,  or  a  crosser  one.  He  looks  like  he  was  going  to  hit 
people,  and  he  does  hit  his  horse  an  awful  crack.  It's 
no  way  to  hit  a  horse,  not  even  if  it  balks,  because  it  can't 
hit  back,  and  it's  a  cowardly  thing  to  do.  If  you  rub 
their  ears  and  talk  to  them,  they  come  quicker,  O  our 
Heavenly  Father,  and  if  you  hit  them  just  because  you 
are  mad,  it's  a  bigger  sin  yet. 

"No  man  is  nearly  so  blessed  as  he  might  be  who  goes 
around  looking  killed  with  grief  when  he  should  cheer  up, 
no  matter  what  ails  him;  and  who  shuts  up  his  door  and 
says  his  wife  is  sick  when  she  isn't,  and  who  scowls  at 
every  one,  when  he  can  be  real  pleasant  if  he  likes,  as 
some  in  Divine  Presence  can  testify.  So  we  are  going 
to  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  to  lay  Thy  mighty  hand  upon 
the  man  who  got  mad  this  beautiful  morning  and  make 
him  feel  Thy  might,  until  he  will  know  for  himself  and  not 
another,  that  You  are  not  a  myth.  Teach  him  to  have  a 
pleasant  countenance,  an  open  door,  and  to  hold  his 
temper.  Help  him  to  come  over  to  our  house  and  be 
friendly  with  all  his  neighbours,  and  get  all  the  bless- 
ings You  have  provided  for  every  one;  but  please  don't 
make  him  have  any  more  trouble  than  he  has  now, 
for  if  You  do,  You'll  surely  kill  him.  Have  patience 
with  him,  and  have  mercy  on  him,  O  Lord!  Let  us 
pray." 

That  time  I  prayed  myself.  I  looked  into  the  sky  just 
as  straight  and  as  far  as  I  could  see,  and  if  I  had  any 
influence  at  all,  I  used  it  then.  Right  out  loud,  I  just 
begged  the  Lord  to  get  after  Mr.  Pryor  and  make  him 


94  LADDIE 

behave  like  other  people,  and  let  the  Princess  come  to  our 
house,  and  for  him  to  come  too;  because  I  liked  him  heaps 
when  he  was  lion  hunting,  and  I  wanted  to  go  with  him 
again  the  worst  way.  I  had  seen  him  sail  right  over  the 
fences  on  his  big  black  horse,  and  when  he  did  it  in  Eng- 
land, wearing  a  red  coat,  and  the  dogs  flew  over  thick 
around  him,  it  must  have  looked  grand,  but  it  was  mighty 
hard  on  the  fox.  I  do  hope  it  got  away.  Anyway,  I 
prayed  as  hard  as  I  could,  and  every  time  I  said  the 
strongest  thing  I  knew,  I  punched  Bobby  to  crow,  and 
he  never  came  out  stronger.  Then  I  was  Sister  Dover  and 
started:  "Oh  come  let  us  gather  at  the  fountain,  the 
fountain  that  never  goes  dry." 

Just  as  I  was  going  to  pronounce  the  benediction  like 
father,  I  heard  something,  so  I  looked  around,  and  there 
went  he  and  Dr.  Fenner.  They  were  going  toward  the 
house,  and  yet,  they  hadn't  passed  me.  I  was  not  scared, 
because  I  knew  no  one  was  sick.  Dr.  Fenner  always 
stopped  when  he  passed,  if  he  had  a  minute,  and  if  he 
hadn't,  mother  sent  some  one  to  the  gate  with  buttermilk 
and  slices  of  bread  and  butter,  and  jelly  an  inch  thick. 
When  a  meal  was  almost  cooked  she  heaped  some  on  a 
plate  and  he  ate  as  he  drove  and  left  the  plate  next  time 
he  passed.  Often  he  was  so  dead  tired,  he  was  asleep 
in  his  buggy,  and  his  old  gray  horse  always  stopped  at  our 
gate. 

I  ended  with  "Amen,"  because  I  wanted  to  know  if 
they  had  been  listening;  so  I  climbed  the  fence,  ran  down 
the  lane  behind  the  bushes,  and  hid  a  minute.  Sure 
enough  they  had!     I  suppose  I  had  been  so  in  earnest 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  95 

I  hadn't  heard  a  sound,  but  it's  a  wonder  Hezekiah  hadn't 
told  me.  He  was  always  seeing  something  to  make 
danger  signals  about.  He  never  let  me  run  on  a  snake, 
or  a  hawk  get  one  of  the  chickens,  or  Paddy  Ryan  come 
too  close.  I  only  wanted  to  know  if  they  had  gone  and 
listened,  and  then  I  intended  to  run  straight  back  to 
Bobby  and  Hezekiah;  but  they  stopped  under  the  green- 
ing apple  tree,  and  what  they  said  was  so  interesting 
I  waited  longer  than  I  should,  because  it's  about  the 
worst  thing  you  can  do  to  listen  when  older  people  don't 
know.     They  were  talking  about  me. 

"I  can't  account  for  her,"  said  father. 

"  I  can ! "  said  Dr.  Fenner.  "  She  is  the  only  child  I  ever 
have  had  in  my  practice  who  managed  to  reach  earth 
as  all  children  should.  During  the  impressionable  stage, 
no  one  expected  her,  so  there  was  no  time  spent  in  worry- 
ing, fretting,  and  discontent.  I  don't  mean  that  these 
things  were  customary  with  Ruth.  No  woman  ever 
accepted  motherhood  in  a  more  beautiful  spirit;  but  if 
she  would  have  protested  at  any  time,  it  would  have  been 
then.  Instead,  she  lived  happily,  naturally,  and  enjoyed 
herself  as  she  never  had  before.  She  was  in  the  fields, 
the  woods,  and  the  garden  constantly,  which  accounts 
for  this  child's  outdoor  tendencies.  Then  you  must  re- 
member that  both  of  you  were  at  top  notch  intellectu- 
ally, and  physically,  fully  matured.  She  had  the  benefit 
of  ripened  minds,  and  at  a  time  when  every  faculty  re- 
cently had  been  stirred  by  the  excitement  and  suffering 
of  the  war.  Oh,  you  can  account  for  her  easily  enough, 
but  I  don't  know  what  on  earth  you  are  going  to  do  with 


96  LADDIE 

her.  You'll  have  to  go  careful,  Paul.  I  warn  you  she  will 
not  be  like  the  others." 

"We  realize  that.  Mother  says  she  doubts  if  she  can 
ever  teach  her  to  sew  and  become  a  housewife." 

"  She  isn't  cut  out  for  a  seamstress  or  a  housewife,  Paul. 
Tell  Ruth  not  to  try  to  force  those  things  on  her.  Turn 
her  loose  out  of  doors;  give  her  good  books,  and  leave  her 
alone.  You  won't  be  disappointed  in  the  woman  who 
evolves." 

Right  there  I  realized  what  I  was  doing,  and  I  turned 
and  ran  for  the  pulpit  with  all  my  might.  I  could  always 
repeat  things,  but  I  couldn't  see  much  sense  to  the  first 
part  of  that;  the  last  was  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  your  face. 
Dr.  Fenner  said  they  mustn't  force  me  to  sew,  and  do 
housework;  and  mother  didn't  mind  the  Almighty  any 
better  than  she  did  the  doctor.  There  was  nothing  in  this 
world  I  disliked  so  much  as  being  kept  indoors,  and  made 
to  hem  cap  and  apron  strings  so  particularly  that  I  had 
to  count  the  number  of  threads  between  every  stitch,  and 
in  each  stitch,  so  that  I  got  all  of  them  just  exactly  even. 
I  liked  carpet  rags  a  little  better,  because  I  didn't  have 
to  be  so  particular  about  stitches,  and  I  always  picked  out 
all  the  bright,  pretty  colours.  Mother  said  she  could 
follow  my  work  all  over  the  floor  by  the  bright  spots. 
Perhaps  if  I  were  not  to  be  kept  in  the  house  I  wouldn't 
have  to  sew  any  more.  That  made  me  so  happy  I  won- 
dered if  I  couldn't  stretch  out  my  arms  and  wave  them 
and  fly.  I  sat  on  the  pulpit  wishing  I  had  feathers.  It 
made  me  pretty  blue  to  have  to  stay  on  the  ground  all 
the  time,  when  I  wanted  to  be  sailing  up   among  the 


MR.  PRYOR'S  DOOR  97 

clouds  with  the  turkey  buzzards.     It  called  to  my  min«t 
that  place  in  McGuffey's  Fifth  where  it  says: 

"  Sweet  bird,  thy  bower  is  ever  green, 
Thy  sky  is  ever  clear; 
Thou  hast  no  sorrow  in  thy  song, 
No  winter  in  thy  year." 

Of  course,  I  never  heard  a  turkey  buzzard  sing.  Laddie 
said  they  couldn't;  but  that  didn't  prove  it.  He  said  half 
the  members  of  our  church  couldn't  sing,  but  they  did;  and 
when  all  of  them  were  going  at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  it 
was  just  grand.  So  maybe  the  turkey  buzzard  could  sing 
if  it  wanted  to;  seemed  as  if  it  should,  if  Isaac  Thomas 
could;  and  anyway,  it  was  the  next  verse  I  was  thinking 
most  about: 

"Oh,  could  I  fly,  I'd  fly  with  thee! 
We'd  make  with  joyful  wing, 
Our  annual  visit  o'er  the  globe, 
Companions  of  the  spring." 

That  was  so  exciting  I  thought  I'd  just  try  it,  so  I  stood  on 
2:he  top  rail,  spread  my  arms,  waved  them,  and  started.  I  was 
bumped  in  fifty  places  when  I  rolled  into  the  cowslip  bed  at 
the  foot  of  the  steep  hill,  for  stones  stuck  out  all  over  the  side 
of  it,  and  I  felt  pretty  mean  as  I  climbed  back  to  the  pulpit. 

The  only  consolation  I  had  was  what  Dr.  Fenner  had 
said.  That  would  be  the  greatest  possible  help  in  manag- 
ing father  or  mother.  I  was  undecided  about  whether 
I  would  go  to  school,  or  not.  Must  be  perfectly  dreadful 
to  dress  like  for  church,  and  sit  still  in  a  stuffy  little 
room,  and  do  your  "abs,"  and  "bes,"  and  "bis,"  and 
"bos,"   all  day  long.     I   could  spell  quite  well  without 


98  LADDIE 

looking  at  a  schoolhouse,  and  read  too.  I  was  wondering 
if  I  ever  would  go  at  all,  when  I  thought  of  something 
else.  Dr.  Fenner  had  said  to  give  me  plenty  of  good 
books.  I  was  wild  for  some  that  were  already  promised 
me.  Well,  what  would  they  amount  to  if  I  couldn't 
understand  them  when  I  got  them?  That  seemed  to 
make  it  sure  I  would  be  compelled  to  go  to  school  until 
I  learned  enough  to  understand  what  the  books  contained 
about  birds,  flowers,  and  moths,  anyway;  and  perhaps 
there  would  be  some  having  Fairies  in  them.  Of  course 
those  would  be  interesting. 

I  never  hated  doing  anything  so  badly,  in  all  my  life, 
but  I  could  see,  with  no  one  to  tell  me,  that  I  had  put  it 
off  as  long  as  I  dared.  I  would  just  have  to  start  to  school 
when  Leon  and  May  went  in  September.  Tilly  Baher, 
who  lived  across  the  swamp  near  Sarah  Hood,  had  gone 
two  winters  already,  and  she  was  only  a  year  older,  and 
not  half  my  size.  I  stood  on  the  pulpit  and  looked  a  long 
time  in  every  direction,  into  the  sky  the  longest  of  all. 
It  was  settled.  I  must  go;  I  might  as  well  start  and  have 
it  over,  i  couldn't  look  anywhere,  right  there  at  home, 
and  not  see  more  things  I  didn't  know  about  than  I  did. 
When  mother  showed  me  in  the  city,  I  wouldn't  be 
snapped  up  like  hot  cakes;  I'd  be  a  blockhead  no  one  would 
have.  It  made  me  so  vexed  to  think  I  had  to  go,  I  set 
Hezekiah  on  my  shoulder,  took  Bobby  under  my  arm,  and 
went  to  the  house.  On  the  way,  I  made  up  my  mind  that 
I  would  ask  again,  very  politely,  to  hold  the  little  baby, 
and  if  the  rest  of  them  went  and  pigged  it  up  straight 
along,  I'd  pinch  it,  if  I  got  a  chance. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Last  Day  in  Eden 

"'Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 
And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 

OF  course  the  baby  was  asleep  and  couldn't  be 
touched;  but  there  was  some  excitement,  any- 
way. Father  had  come  from  town  with  a  letter 
from  the  new  school  teacher,  that  said  she  would  expect 
him  to  meet  her  at  the  station  next  Saturday.  Mother 
thought  she  might  as  well  get  the  room  ready  and  let 
her  stay  at  our  house,  because  we  were  most  convenient, 
and  it  would  be  the  best  place  for  her.  She  said  that 
every  time,  and  the  teacher  always  stayed  with  us.  Really 
it  was  because  father  and  mother  wanted  the  teacher 
where  they  could  know  as  much  as  possible  about  what 
was  going  on.  Sally  didn't  like  having  her  at  all;  she 
said  with  the  wedding  coming,  the  teacher  would  be  a 
nuisance.  Shelley  had  finished  our  school,  and  the  Grove- 
ville  high  school,  and  instead  of  attending  college  she 
was  going  to  Chicago  to  study  music.  She  was  so  anxious 
over  her  dresses  and  getting  started,  she  didn't  seem  to 
think  much  about  what  was  going  to  happen  to  us  at 
home;  so  she  didn't  care  if  Miss  Amelia  stayed  at  our 
house.     May  said  it  would  be  best  to  have  the  teacher 

99 


ioo  LADDIE 

with  us,  because  she  could  help  us  with  our  lessons  at 
home,  and  we  could  get  ahead  of  the  others.  May  al- 
ready had  decided  that  she  would  be  at  the  head  of  her 
class  when  she  finished  school,  and  every  time  you  wanted 
her  and  couldn't  find  her,  if  you  would  look  across  the 
foot  of  mother's  bed,  May  would  be  there  with  a  spelling 
book.  Once  she  had  spelled  down  our  school,  when 
Laddie  was  not  there. 

Father  had  met  Peter  Dover  in  town,  and  he  had  said 
that  he  was  coming  to  see  Sally,  because  he  had  some- 
thing of  especial  importance  to  tell  her. 

"Did  he  say  what  it  was?"  asked  Sally. 

"Only  what  I  have  told  you, "  replied  father. 

Sally  wanted  to  take  the  broom  and  sweep  the  parlour. 

"It's  clean  as  a  ribbon,"  said  mother. 

"If  you  go  in  there,  you'll  wake  the  baby,"  said  Lucy. 

"Will  it  kill  it  if  I  do  ? "  asked  Sally. 

"No,  but  it  will  make  it  cross  as  fire,  so  it  will  cry 
all  the  time  Peter  is  here,"  said  Lucy. 

"I'll  be  surprised  if  it  doesn't  scream  every  minute 
anyway,"  said  Sally. 

"I  hope  it  will,"  said  Lucy.  "That  will  make  Peter 
think  a  while  before  he  comes  so  often." 

That  made  Sally  so  angry  she  couldn't  speak,  so  she 
went  out  and  began  killing  chickens.  I  helped  her  catch 
them.  They  were  so  used  to  me  they  would  come  right 
to  my  feet  when  I  shelled  corn. 

"I'm  going  to  kill  three,"  said  Sally.  "I'm  going  to 
be  sure  we  have  enough,  but  don't  you  tell  until  their 
heads  are  off." 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  101 

While  she  was  working  on  them  mother  came  out  and 
asked  how  many  she  had,  so  Sally  said  three.  Mother 
counted  us  and  said  that  wasn't  enough;  there  would 
have  to  be  four  at  least. 

After  she  was  gone  Sally  looked  at  me  and  said:  "Well 
for  land's  sake!" 

It  was  so  funny  she  had  to  laugh,  and  by  the  time 
I  caught  the  fourth  one,  and  began  helping  pick  them, 
she  was  over  being  provoked  and  we  had  lots  of 
fun. 

The  minute  I  saw  Peter  Dover  he  made  me  think  of 
something.  I  rode  his  horse  to  the  barn  with  Leon  lead- 
ing it.     There  we  saw  Laddie. 

"Guess  what!"  I  cried. 

"Never  could!"  laughed  Laddie,  giving  Peter  Dover's 
horse  a  slap  as  it  passed  him  on  the  way  to  a  stall. 

"Four  chickens,  ham,  biscuit,  and  cake!"  I  announced. 

"Is  it  a  barbecue?"  asked  Laddie. 

"No,  the  extra  one  is  for  the  baby,"  said  Leon. 
"Squally  little  runt,  I  call  it." 

"It's  a  nice  baby!"  said  Laddie. 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?"  demanded  Leon. 

"Well,  considering  that  I  started  with  you,  and  have 
brought  up  two  others  since,  I  am  schooled  in  all  there 
is  to  know,"  said  Laddie. 

"Guess  what  else!"  I  cried. 

"More?"  said  Laddie.  "Out  with  it!  Don't  kill  me 
with  suspense." 

"Father  is  going  to  town  Saturday  to  meet  the  new 
teacher,  and  she  will  stay  at  our  house  as  usual." 


io2  LADDIE 

Leon  yelled  and  fell  back  in  a  manger,  while  Laddie 
held  the  harness  oil  to  his  nose. 

"More!"  cried  Leon,  grabbing  the  bottle. 

"Are  you  sure?"  asked  Laddie  of  me  earnestly. 

"It's  decided.     Mother  said  so,"  I  told  him. 

"Name  of  a  black  cat,  why?"  demanded  Laddie. 

"Mother  said  we  were  most  convenient  for  the  teacher." 

"Aren't  there  enough  of  us?"  asked  Leon,  straightening 
up  and  sniffing  harness  oil  as  if  his  life  depended  on  it. 

"Any  unprejudiced  person  would  probably  say  so  to 
look  in,"  said  Laddie. 

"I'll  bet  she'll  be  sixty  and  a  cat,"  said  Leon.  "Won't 
I  have  fun  with  her?" 

"Maybe  so,  maybe  not!"  said  Laddie.  "You  can't 
always  tell,  for  sure.  Remember  your  Alamo!  You  were 
going  to  have  fun  with  the  teacher  last  year,  but  she  had 
it  with  you." 

Leon  threw  the  oil  bottle  at  him.  Laddie  caught  it 
and  set  it  on  the  shelf. 

"I  don't  understand,"  said  Leon. 

"I  do,"  said  Laddie  dryly.  "  This  is  one  reason."  He 
hit  Peter  Dover's  horse  another  slap. 

"Maybe  yes,"  said  Leon. 

"Shelley  to  music  school,  two." 

"Yes,"  said  Leon.  "Peter  Dovers  are  the  greatest 
expense,  and  Peter  won't  happen  but  once.  Shelley 
will  have  at  least  two  years  in  school  before  it  is  her  turn, 
and  you  come  next,  anyway." 

"Shut  up!"  cried  Laddie. 

"Thanky!     Your  orders  shall  be  obeyed  gladly." 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  103 

He  laid  down  the  pitchfork,  went  outside,  closed  the 
door,  and  latched  it.  Laddie  called  to  him,  but  he  ran 
to  the  house.  When  Laddie  and  I  finished  our  work, 
and  his,  and  wanted  to  go,  we  had  to  climb  the  stairs 
and  leave  through  the  front  door  on  the  embankment. 

"The  monkey!"  said  Laddie,  but  he  didn't  get  mad; 
he  just  laughed. 

The  minute  I  stepped  into  the  house  and  saw  the  parlour 
door  closed,  I  thought  of  that  "something"  again.  I 
walked  past  it,  but  couldn't  hear  anything.  Of  course 
mother  wanted  to  know;  and  she  would  be  very  thankful 
to  me  if  I  could  tell  her.  I  went  out  the  front  door, 
and  thought  deeply  on  the  situation.  The  windows 
were  wide  open,  but  I  was  far  below  them  and  I  could 
only  hear  a  sort  of  murmur.  Why  can't  people  speak 
up  loud  and  plain,  anyway?  Of  course  they  would  sit 
on  the  big  haircloth  sofa.  Didn't  Leon  call  it  the  "spark- 
ing bench"?  The  hemlock  tree  would  be  best.  I 
climbed  quieter  than  a  cat,  for  they  break  bark  and  make 
an  awful  scratching  with  their  claws  sometimes;  my  bare 
feet  were  soundless.  Up  and  up  I  went,  slowly,  for  it 
was  dreadfully  rough.  They  were  not  on  the  sofa.  I 
could  see  plainly  through  the  needles.  Then  I  saw  the 
spruce  would  have  been  better,  for  they  were  standing 
in  front  of  the  parlour  door  and  Peter  had  one  hand  on 
the  knob.  His  other  arm  was  around  my  sister  Sally. 
Breathlessly  I  leaned  as  far  as  I  could,  and  watched. 

"Father  said  he'd  give  me  the  money  to  buy  a  half 
interest,  and  furnish  a  house  nicely,  if  you  said  'yes»' 
Sally,"  said  Peter. 


104  LADDIE 

Sally  leaned  back  all  pinksome  and  blushful,  and  while 
she  laughed  at  him  she 

"Carelessly  tossed  off  a  curl 
That  played  on  her  delicate  brow," 

exactly  like  Mary  Dow  in  McGuffey's  Third. 

"Well,  what  did  I  say?"  she  asked. 

"Come  to  think  of  it,  you  didn't  say  anything." 

Sally's  face  was  all  afire  with  dancing  lights,  and  she 
laughed  the  gayest  little  laugh. 

"Are  you  so  very  sure  of  that,  Peter?"  she  said. 

"I'm  not  sure  of  anything,"  said  Peter,  "except  that 
I  am  so  happy  I  could  fly." 

"Try  it,  fool!"  said  I  to  myself,  deep  in  my  throat. 

Sally  laughed  again,  and  Peter  took  his  other  hand 
from  the  door  and  put  that  arm  around  Sally  too,  and 
he  drew  her  to  him  and  kissed  her,  the  longest,  hardest 
kiss  I  ever  saw.  I  let  go  and  rolled,  tumbled,  slid,  and 
scratched  down  the  hemlock  tree,  dropped  from  the  last 
branch  to  the  ground,  and  scampered  around  the  house. 
I  reached  the  dining-room  door  when  every  one  was  gath- 
ering for  supper. 

"Mother!"  I  cried.  "Mother!  Yes!  They're  engaged! 
He's  kissing  her,  mother!     Yes,  Lucy,  they're  engaged!" 

I  rushed  in  to  tell  all  of  them  what  they  would  be 
glad  to  know,  and  if  there  didn't  stand  Peter  and  Sally] 
How  they  ever  got  through  that  door,  and  across  the 
sitting-room  before  me,  I  don't  understand.  Sally  made  a 
dive  at  me,  and  I  was  so  astonished  I  forgot  to  run,  so 
she  caught  me.     She  started  for  the  wood  house  with  me, 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  105 

and  mother  followed.  Sally  turned  at  the  door  and  she 
was  the  whitest  of  anything  you  ever  saw. 

"This  is  my  affair,"  she  said.  "I'll  attend  to  this 
young  lady." 

"Very  well,"  said  mother,  and  as  I  live  she  turned  and 
left  me  to  my  sad  fate,  as  it  says  in  a  story  book  we  have. 
I  wish  when  people  are  going  to  punish  me,  they'd  take  a 
switch  and  strike  respectably,  like  mother  does.  This 
thing  of  having  some  one  get  all  over  me,  and  not  having 
an  idea  where  I'm  going  to  be  hit,  is  the  worst  punishment 
that  I  ever  had.  I'd  been  down  the  hill  and  up  the  hem- 
lock that  day,  anyway.  I'd  always  been  told  Sally  didn't 
want  me.  She  proved  it  right  then.  Finally  she  quit,  be- 
cause she  was  too  tired  to  strike  again,  so  I  crept  among  the 
shavings  on  the  work  bench  and  went  to  sleep.  I  thought 
they  would  like  to  know,  and  that  I  was  going  to  please 
them. 

Anyway,  they  found  out,  for  by  the  time  Sally  got  back 
Peter  had  told  them  about  the  store,  and  the  furnished 
house,  and  asked  father  for  Sally  right  before  all  of  them, 
which  father  said  was  pretty  brave;  but  Peter  knew  it  was 
all  right  or  he  couldn't  have  come  like  he'd  been  doing. 

After  that,  you  couldn't  hear  anything  at  our  house  but 
wedding.  Sally's  share  of  linen  and  bedding  was  all 
finished  long  ago.  Father  took  her  to  Fort  Wayne  on 
the  cars  to  buy  her  wedding,  travelling,  and  working 
dresses,  and  her  hat,  cloak,  and  linen,  like  you  have  when 
you  marry. 

It  was  strange  that  Sally  didn't  want  mother  to  go, 
but  she  said  the  trip  would  tire  her  too  much.     Mother 


106  LADDIE 

said  it  was  because  Sally  could  coax  more  dresses  from 
father.  Anyway,  mother  told  him  to  set  a  limit  and 
stick  to  it.  She  said  she  knew  he  hadn't  done  it  as  she 
got  the  first  glimpse  of  Sally's  face  when  they  came  back, 
but  the  child  looked  so  beautiful  and  happy  she  hadn't 
the  heart  to  spoil  her  pleasure. 

The  next  day  a  sewing  woman  came;  and  all  of  them 
were  shut  up  in  the  sitting-room,  while  the  sewing  ma- 
chine just  whizzed  on  the  working  dresses.  Sally  said 
the  wedding  dress  had  to  be  made  by  hand.  She  kept 
the  room  locked,  and  every  new  thing  that  they  made  was 
laid  away  on  the  bed  in  the  parlour  bedroom,  and  none  of 
us  had  a  peep  until  everything  was  finished.  It  was 
awfully  exciting,  but  I  wouldn't  pretend  I  cared,  because 
I  was  huffy  at  her.  I  told  her  I  wouldn't  kiss  her  good- 
bye, and  I'd  be  glad  when  she  was  gone. 

Sally  said  the  school-ma'am  simply  had  to  go  to  Win- 
ters', or  some  place  else,  but  mother  said  possibly  a 
stranger  would  have  some  ideas,  and  know  some  new 
styles,  so  Sally  then  thought  maybe  they  had  better  try 
it  a  few  days,  and  she  could  have  her  place  and  be  com- 
pany when  she  and  Shelley  left.  Shelley  was  rather 
silent  and  blue,  and  before  long  I  found  her  crying,  be- 
cause mother  had  told  her  she  couldn't  start  to  Chicago 
until  after  the  wedding,  and  that  would  make  her  miss  six 
weeks  at  the  start. 

Next  day  word  was  sent  around  that  school  was  to 
begin  the  coming  Monday;  so  Saturday  afternoon  the 
people  who  had  children  large  enough  to  go  sent  the  big- 
gest of  them  to  clean  the  schoolhouse.     May,  Leon,  and 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  107 

I  went  to  do  our  share.  Just  when  there  were  about  a 
bushel  of  nut  shells,  and  withered  apple  cores,  and  inky- 
paper  on  the  floor,  the  blackboard  half  cleaned,  and  ashes 
trailed  deep  between  the  stove  and  the  window  Billy 
Wilson  was  throwing  them  from,  some  one  shouted: 
"There  comes  Mr.  Stanton  with  Her." 

All  of  us  dropped  everything  and  ran  to  the  south 
windows.  I  tell  you  I  was  proud  of  our  big  white  team 
as  it  came  prancing  down  the  hill,  and  the  gleaming  patent 
leather  trimmings,  and  the  brass  side  lamps  shining  in 
the  sun.  Father  sat  very  straight,  driving  rather  fast, 
as  if  he  would  as  lief  get  it  over  with,  and  instead  of  riding 
on  the  back  seat,  where  mother  always  sat,  the  teacher 
was  in  front  beside  him,  and  she  seemed  to  be  talking 
constantly.  We  looked  at  each  other  and  groaned  when 
father  stopped  at  the  hitching  post  and  'got  out.  If  we 
had  tried  to  see  what  a  dreadful  muss  we  could  make, 
things  could  have  looked  no  worse.  I  think  father  told 
her  to  wait  in  the  carriage,  but  we  heard  her  cry:  "Oh 
Mr.  Stanton,  let  me  see  the  dear  children  I'm  to  teach, 
and  where  I'm  to  work." 

Hopped  is  the  word.  She  hopped  from  the  carriage  and 
came  hopping  after  father.  She  was  as  tall  as  a  clothes 
prop  and  scarcely  as  fat.  There  were  gray  hairs  coming 
on  her  temples.  Her  face  was  sallow  and  wrinkled, 
and  she  had  faded,  pale-blue  eyes.  Her  dress  was  like 
my  mother  had  worn  several  years  before,  in  style,  and 
of  stiff  gray  stufF.  She  made  me  feel  that  no  one  wanted 
her  at  home,  and  probably  that  was  the  reason  she  had 
come  so  far  away. 


108  LADDIE 

Every  one  stood  dumb.  Mother  always  went  to  meet 
people  and  May  was  old  enough  to  know  it.  She  went, 
but  she  looked  exactly  as  she  does  when  the  wafer  bursts 
and  the  quinine  gets  in  her  mouth,  and  she  doesn't  dare 
spit  it  out,  because  it  costs  five  dollars  a  bottle,  and  it's 
going  to  do  her  good.  Father  introduced  May  and  some 
of  the  older  children,  and  May  helped  him  with  the  others, 
and  then  he  told  us  to  "dig  in  and  work  like  troopers," 
and  he  would  take  Miss  Pollard  on  home. 

"Oh  do  let  me  remain  and  help  the  dear  children!" 
she  cried. 

"We  can  finish!"  we  answered  in  full  chorus. 

"How  lovely  of  you!"  she  chirped. 

Chirp  makes  you  think  of  a  bird;  and  in  speech  and 
manner  Miss  Amelia  Pollard  was  the  most  birdlike  of 
any  human  being  I  ever  have  seen.  She  hopped  from  the 
step  to  the  walk,  turned  to  us,  her  head  on  one  side,  play- 
fulness in  the  air  around  her,  and  shook  her  finger  at  us. 

"Be  extremely  particular  that  you  leave  things  im- 
maculate at  the  consummation  of  your  labour,"  she  said. 
"'Remember  that  cleanliness  is  next  to  Godliness!'" 

"Two  terms  of  that!"  gasped  Leon,  sinking  on  the 
stove  hearth.  "  Behold  Job  mourning  as  close  the  ashes  as 
he  can." 

Billy  Wilson  had  the  top  lid  off,  so  he  reached  down 
and  got  a  big  handful  of  ashes  and  sifted  them  over  Leon- 
But  it's  no  fun  to  do  anything  like  that  to  him;  he  only 
sank  in  a  more  dejected  heap,  and  moaned:  "Send  for 
Bildad  and  Zophar  to  comfort  me,  and  more  ashes, 
please." 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  109 

"Why  does  the  little  feathered  dear  touch  earth  at 
all?     Why  doesn't  she  fly?"  demanded  Silas  Shaw. 

"I'm  going  to  get  a  hundred  wads  ready  for  Monday," 
said  Jimmy  Hood.     "We  can  shoot  them  when  we  please." 

"Bet  ten  cents  you  can't  hit  her,"  said  Billy  Wilson. 
"There  ain't  enough  of  her  for  a  decent  mark." 

"Let's  quit  and  go  home,"  proposed  Leon.  "This  will 
look  worse  than  it  does  now  by  Monday  night." 

Then  every  one  began  talking  at  once.  Suddenly 
May  seized  the  poker  and  began  pounding  on  the  top  of 
the  stove  for  order, 

"We  must  clean  this  up,"  she  said.  "We  might  as 
well  finish.  Maybe  you'll  shoot  wads  and  do  what  you 
please,  and  maybe  you  won't.  Her  eyes  went  around 
like  a  cat  that  smells  mice.  If  she  can  spell  the  language 
she  uses,  she  is  the  best  we've  ever  had." 

That  made  us  blink,  and  I  never  forgot  it.  Many 
times  afterward  while  listening  to  people  talk,  I  wondered 
if  they  could  spell  the  words  they  used. 

"Well,  come  on,  then!"  said  Leon.  He  seized  the 
broom  and  handed  it  to  Billy  Wilson,  quoting  as  he  did 
so,  "Work,  work,  my  boy,  be  not  afraid";  and  he  told 
Silas  Shaw  as  he  gave  him  the  mop,  to  "Look  labour  boldly 
in  the  face!"  but  he  never  did  a  thing  himself,  except 
to  keep  every  one  laughing. 

So  we  cleaned  up  as  well  as  we  could,  and  Leon  strut- 
ted like  Bobby,  because  he  locked  the  door  and  carried 
the  key.  When  we  reached  home  I  was  sorry  I  hadn't 
gone  with  father,  so  I  could  have  seen  mother,  Sally, 
Candace,  and  Laddie  when  first  they  met  the  new  teacher. 


no  LADDIE 

The  shock  showed  yet!  Miss  Amelia  had  taken  off  her 
smothery  woollen  dress  and  put  on  a  black  calico,  but  it 
wasn't  any  more  cheerful.  She  didn't  know  what  to  do, 
and  you  could  see  plainly  that  no  one  knew  what  to  do 
with  her,  so  they  united  in  sending  me  to  show  her  the 
place.  I  asked  her  what  she  would  like  most  to  see,  and 
she  said  everything  was  so  charming  she  couldn't  decide. 
I  thought  if  she  had  no  more  choice  than  that,  one  place 
would  do  as  well  as  another,  so  I  started  for  the  orchard. 
Quick  as  we  got  there,  I  knew  what  to  do.  I  led  her 
straight  to  our  best  cling  peach  tree,  told  her  to  climb  on 
the  fence  so  she  could  reach  easily,  and  eat  all  she  chose. 
We  didn't  dare  shake  the  tree,  because  the  pigs  ran  on 
the  other  side  of  the  fence,  and  they  chanked  up  every 
peach  that  fell  there.  Those  peaches  were  too  good  to 
feed  even  father's  finest  Berkshires. 

By  the  time  Miss  Amelia  had  eaten  nine  or  ten,  she 
was  so  happy  to  think  she  was  there,  she  quit  tilting 
her  head  and  using  big  words.  Of  course  she  couldn't 
know  how  I  loved  to  hear  them,  and  maybe  she  thought 
I  wouldn't  know  what  they  meant,  and  that  they  would 
be  wasted  on  me.  If  she  had  understood  how  much 
spelling  and  defining  I'd  heard  in  my  life,  I  guess  she 
might  have  talked  up  as  big  as  she  could,  and  still  I'd 
have  got  most  of  it.  When  she  reached  the  place  where 
she  ate  more  slowly,  she  began  to  talk.  She  must  have 
asked  me  most  a  hundred  questions.  What  all  our  names 
were,  how  old  we  were,  if  our  girls  had  lots  of  beaus,  and 
if  there  were  many  men  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  dozens 
of  things  my  mother  never  asked  any  one.     She  always 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  in 

inquired  if  people  were  well,  if  their  crops  were  growing^ 
how  much  fruit  they  had,  and  how  near  their  quilts  were 
finished. 

I  told  her  all  about  Sally  and  the  wedding,  because 
no  one  cared  who  knew  it,  after  I  had  been  pounded  to 
mince-meat  for  telling.  She  asked  if  Shelley  had  any 
beaus,  and  I  said  there  wasn't  any  one  who  came  like 
Peter,  but  every  man  in  the  neighbourhood  wanted  to  be 
her  beau.  Then  she  asked  about  Laddie,  and  I  was  tak- 
ing no  risks,  so  I  said:  "I  only  see  him  at  home.  I  don't 
know  where  he  goes  when  he's  away.  You'll  have  to 
ask  him." 

"Oh,  I  never  would  dare,"  she  said.  "But  he  must. 
He  is  so  handsome!  The  girls  would  just  compel  him  to 
go  to  see  them." 

"Not  if  he  didn't  want  to  go,"  I  said. 

"You  must  never,  never  tell  him  I  said  so,  but  I  do 
think  he  is  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  saw." 

"So  do  I,"  I  said,  "and  it  wouldn't  make  any  differ- 
ence if  I  told  him." 

"Then  do  you  mean  you're  going  to  tell  him  my  foolish 
remark?"  she  giggled. 

"No  use,"  I  said.  "He  knows  it  now.  Every  time 
he  parts  his  hair  he  sees  how  good  looking  he  is.  He 
doesn't  care.  He  says  the  only  thing  that  counts  with 
a  man  is  to  be  big,  strong,  manly,  and  well  educated." 

"  Is  he  well  educated  ? " 

"Yes,  I  think  so,  as  far  as  he's  gone,"  I  answered.  "Of 
course  he  will  go  on  being  educated  every  day  of  his  life, 
same  as  father.     He  says  it  is  all  rot  about  'finishing' 


ii2  LADDIE 

your  education.  You  never  do.  You  learn  more  im- 
portant things  each  day,  and  by  the  time  you  are  old 
enough  to  die,  you  have  almost  enough  sense  to  know  how 
to  live  comfortably.     Pity,  isn't  it  ? " 

"Yes,"  said  Miss  Amelia,  "it's  an  awful  pity,  but  it's 
the  truth.     Is  your  mother  being  educated  too?" 

"Whole  family,"  I  said.  "We  learn  all  the  time, 
mother  most  of  any,  because  father  always  looks  out  for 
her.  You  see,  it  takes  so  much  of  her  time  to  manage  the 
house,  and  sew,  and  knit,  and  darn,  that  she  can't  study 
so  much  as  the  others;  so  father  reads  all  the  books  to 
her,  and  tells  her  about  everything  he  finds  out,  and  so  do 
all  of  us.  Just  ask  her  if  you  think  she  doesn't  know 
things." 

"I  wouldn't  know  what  to  ask,"  said  Miss  Amelia. 

"Ask  how  long  it  took  to  make  this  world,  who  invented 
printing,  where  English  was  first  spoken,  why  Greeley 
changed  his  politics,  how  to  make  bluebell  perfumery, 
cut  out  a  dress,  or  cure  a  baby  of  worms.     Just  ask  her!" 

Miss  Amelia  threw  a  peach  stone  through  a  fence  crack 
and  hit  a  pig.     It  was  a  pretty  neat  shot. 

"I  don't  need  ask  any  of  that,"  she  said  scornfully. 
"I  know  all  of  it  now." 

"All  right !     What  is  best  for  worms  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Jayne's  vermifuge,"  said  Miss  Amelia. 

"Wrong!"  I  cried.  "That's  a  patent  medicine.  Tea 
made  from  male  fern  root  is  best,  because  there?s  no 
morphine  in  it!" 

The  supper  bell  rang  and  I  was  glad  of  it.  Peaches 
are  not  very  filling  after  all,  for  I  couldn't  see  but  that 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  113 

Miss  Amelia  ate  as  much  as  any  of  us.  For  a  few  minutes 
every  one  was  slow  in  speaking,  then  mother  asked  about 
cleaning  the  schoolhouse,  Laddie  had  something  to  ex- 
plain to  father  about  corn  mould,  Sally  and  the  dress- 
maker talked  about  pipings — not  a  bird — a  new  way  to 
fold  goods  to  make  trimmings,  and  soon  everything  was 
going  on  the  same  as  if  the  new  teacher  were  not  there. 
I  noticed  that  she  kept  her  head  straight,  and  was  not 
nearly  so  glib-tongued  and  birdlike  before  mother  and 
Sally  as  she  had  been  at  the  schoolhouse.  Maybe  that 
was  why  father  told  mother  that  night  that  the  new 
teacher  would  bear  acquaintance. 

Sunday  was  like  every  other  Sabbath,  except  that  I 
felt  so  sad  all  day  I  could  have  cried,  but  I  was  not  going 
to  do  it.  Seemed  as  if  I  never  could  put  on  shoes,  and 
so  many  clothes  Monday  morning,  quite  like  church, 
and  be  shut  in  a  room  for  hours,  to  try  to  learn  what  was 
in  books,  when  the  world  was  running  over  with  things 
to  find  out  where  you  could  have  your  feet  in  water, 
leaves  in  your  hair,  and  little  living  creatures  in  your 
hands.  In  the  afternoon  Miss  Amelia  asked  Laddie  to 
take  her  for  a  walk  to  see  the  creek,  and  the  barn,  and  he 
couldn't  escape. 

I  suppose  our  barn  was  exactly  like  hundreds  of  others. 
It  was  built  against  an  embankment  so  that  on  one  side 
you  could  drive  right  on  the  threshing  floor  with  big  loads 
of  grain.  On  the  sunny  side  in  the  lower  part  were  the 
sheep  pens,  cattle  stalls,  and  horse  mangers.  It  was  al- 
ways half  bursting  with  overflowing  grain  bins  and  hay- 
lofts in  the  fall;  the  swallows  twittered  under  the  roof 


ii4  LADDIE 

until  time  to  go  south  for  winter,  as  they  sailed  from  the 
ventilators  to  their  nests  plastered  against  the  rafters  or 
eaves.  The  big  swinging  doors  front  and  back  could  be 
opened  to  let  the  wind  blow  through  in  a  strong  draft. 
From  the  east  doors  you  could  see  for  miles  across  the 
country. 

I  said  our  barn  was  like  others,  but  it  was  not.  There 
was  not  another  like  it  in  the  whole  world.  Father,  the 
boys,  and  the  hired  men  always  kept  it  cleaned  and  in 
proper  shape  every  day.  The  upper  floor  was  as  neat  as 
some  women's  houses.  It  was  swept,  the  sun  shone  in, 
the  winds  drifted  through,  the  odours  of  drying  hay  and 
grain  were  heavy,  and  from  the  top  of  the  natural  little 
hill  against  which  it  stood  you  could  see  for  miles  in  all 
directions. 

The  barn  was  our  great  playhouse  on  Sundays.  It 
was  clean  there,  we  were  where  we  could  be  called  when 
wanted,  and  we  liked  to  climb  the  ladders  to  the  top  of 
the  haymows,  walk  the  beams  to  the  granaries,  and  jump 
to  the  hay.  One  day  May  came  down  on  a  snake  that 
had  been  brought  in  with  a  load.  I  can  hear  her  yell 
now,  and  it  made  her  so  frantic  she's  been  killing  them 
ever  since.  It  was  only  a  harmless  little  garter  snake,  but 
she  was  so  surprised. 

Miss  Amelia  held  her  head  very  much  on  one  side  all 
the  time  she  walked  with  Laddie,  and  she  was  so  birdlike 
Leon  slipped  him  a  brick  and  told  him  to  have  her  hold 
it  to  keep  her  down.  Seemed  as  if  she  might  fly  any 
minute.  She  thought  our  barn  was  the  nicest  she  ever 
had  seen  and  the  cleanest.     When  Laddie  opened  the 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  115 

doors  on  the  east  side,  and  she  could  see  the  big,  red, 
yellow,  and  green  apples  thick  as  leaves  on  the  trees  in 
the  orchard,  the  lane,  the  woods  pasture,  and  the  meadow 
with  scattering  trees,  two  running  springs,  and  the  meeting 
of  the  creeks,  she  said  it  was  the  loveliest  sight  she  ever 
saw — I  mean  beheld.  Laddie  liked  that,  so  he  told  her 
about  the  beautiful  town,  and  the  lake,  and  the  Wabash 
River,  that  our  creek  emptied  into,  and  how  people  came 
from  other  states  and  big  cities  and  stayed  all  summer  to 
fish,  row,  swim,  and  have  good  times. 

She  asked  him  to  take  her  to  the  meadow,  but  he  ex- 
cused himself,  because  he  had  an  engagement.  So  she 
stood  in  the  door,  and  watched  him  saddle  Flos  and  start 
to  the  house  to  dress  in  his  riding  clothes.  After  that  she 
didn't  care  a  thing  about  the  meadow,  so  we  went  back. 

Our  house  looked  as  if  we  had  a  party.  We  were  all 
dressed  in  our  best,  and  every  one  was  out  in  the  yard, 
garden,  or  orchard.  Peter  and  Sally  were  under  the  big 
pearmain  apple  tree  at  the  foot  of  the  orchard,  Shelley  and 
a  half  dozen  beaus  were  everywhere,  May  had  her  spelling 
book  in  one  hand  and  was  in  my  big  catalpa  talking  to 
Billy  Stevens,  who  was  going  to  be  her  beau  as  soon  as 
mother  said  she  was  old  enough.  Father  was  reading  a 
wonderful  new  book  to  mother  and  some  of  the  neighbours. 
Leon  was  perfectly  happy  because  no  one  wanted  him, 
so  he  could  tease  all  of  them  by  saying  things  they  didn't 
like  to  hear.  When  Laddie  came  out  and  mounted,  Leon 
asked  him  where  he  was  going,  and  Laddie  said  he  hadn't 
fully  decided:  he  might  ride  to  Elizabeth's,  and  not  come 
back  until  Monday  morning. 


n6  LADDIE 

"You  think  you're  pretty  slick,"  said  Leon.  "But  if 
we  could  see  north  to  the  cross  road  we  could  watch  you 
turn  west,  and  go  past  Pryors  to  show  yourself  off,  or 
try  to  find  the  Princess  on  the  road  walking  or  riding.  I 
know  something  I'm  saving  to  tell  next  time  you  get 
smart,  Mr.  Laddie." 

Laddie  seemed  annoyed  and  no  one  was  quicker  to  see 
it  than  Leon.  Instantly  he  jumped  on  the  horse  block, 
pulled  down  his  face  long  as  he  could,  stretched  his  hands 
toward  Laddie,  and  making  his  voice  all  wavery  and 
tremulous,  he  began  reciting  from  "Lochiel's  Warning," 
m  tones  of  agonizing  pleading: 


'Laddie,  Laddie,  beware  of  the  day! 
For,  dark  and  despairing,  my  sight,  I  may  sea!, 
But  man  cannot  cover  what  God  would  reveal; 
'Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 
And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 


That  scared  me.  I  begged  Leon  to  tell,  but  he  wouldn't 
say  a  word  more.  He  went  and  talked  to  Miss  Amelia 
as  friendly  as  you  please,  and  asked  her  to  take  a  walk  in 
the  orchard  and  get  some  peaches,  and  she  went  flying. 
He  got  her  all  she  could  carry  and  guided  her  to  Peter 
and  Sally,  introduced  her  to  Peter,  and  then  slipped  away 
and  left  her.  Then  he  and  Sally  couldn't  talk  about  their 
wedding,  and  Peter  couldn't  squeeze  her  hand,  and  she 
couldn't  fix  his  tie,  and  it  was  awful.  Shelley  and  her 
boys  almost  laughed  themselves  sick  over  it,  and  then 
she  cried,  "To  the  rescue!"  and  started,  so  they  followed. 
They  captured  Miss  Amelia  and  brought  her  back,  and 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  117 

left  her  with  father  and  the  wonderful  book,  but  I'm  sure 
she  liked  the  orchard  better. 

I  took  Grace  Greenwood  under  my  arm,  Hezekiah  on 
my  shoulder,  and  with  Bobby  at  my  heels  went  away. 
I  didn't  want  my  hair  pulled,  or  to  be  teased  that  day. 
There  was  such  a  hardness  around  my  heart,  and  such  a 
lump  in  my  throat,  that  I  didn't  care  what  happened  to 
me  one  minute,  and  the  next  I  knew  I'd  slap  any  one 
who  teased  me,  if  I  were  sent  to  bed  for  it.  As  I  went 
down  the  lane  Peter  called  to  me  to  come  and  see  him, 
but  I  knew  exactly  how  he  looked,  and  didn't  propose  to 
make  up.  There  was  not  any  sense  in  Sally  clawing  me  all 
over,  when  I  only  tried  to  help  mother  and  Lucy  find  out 
what  they  wanted  to  know  so  badly.  I  went  down  the 
hill,  crossed  the  creek  on  the  stepping-stones,  and  fol- 
lowed the  cowpath  into  the  woods  pasture.  It  ran  beside 
the  creek  bank  through  the  spice  thicket  and  blackberry 
patches,  under  pawpaw  groves,  and  beneath  giant  oaks 
and  elms.  Just  where  the  creek  turned  at  the  open 
pasture,  below  the  church  and  cemetery,  right  at  the 
deep  bend,  stood  the  biggest  white  oak  father  owned. 
It  was  about  a  tree  exactly  like  this  that  an  English- 
man wrote  a  beautiful  poem  in  McGuffey's  Sixth,  that 
begins: 

"A  song  to  the  oak,  the  brave  old  oak, 
Who  hath  ruled  in  the  greenwood  long; 
Here's  health  and  renown  to  his  broad  green  crown, 
And  his  fifty  arms  so  strong." 

I  knew  it  was  the  same,  because  I  counted  the  arms 
time  and  again,  and  there  were  exactly  fifty.     There  was 


u8  LADDIE 

a  pawpaw  and  spice  hedge  around  three  sides  of  this  one, 
and  water  on  the  other.  Wild  grapes  climbed  from  the 
bushes  to  the  lower  branches  and  trailed  back  to  earth 
again.  Here,  I  had  two  secrets  I  didn't  propose  to  tell. 
One  was  that  in  the  crotch  of  some  tiptop  branches  the 
biggest  chicken  hawks  you  ever  saw  had  their  nest,  and 
if  they  took  too  many  chickens  father  said  they'd  have  to 
be  frightened  a  little  with  a  gun.  I  can't  begin  to  tell 
how  I  loved  those  hawks.  They  did  the  one  thing  I 
wanted  to  most,  and  never  could.  When  I  saw  them 
serenely  soar  above  the  lowest  of  the  soft  fleecy  September 
clouds,  I  was  wild  with  envy.  I  would  have  gone  without 
chicken  myself  rather  than  have  seen  one  of  those  splendid 
big  brown  birds  dropped  from  the  skies.  I  was  so  careful 
to  shield  them,  that  I  selected  this  for  my  especial  retreat 
when  I  wanted  most  to  be  alone,  and  I  carefully  gathered 
up  any  offal  from  the  nest  that  might  point  out  their  loca- 
tion, and  threw  it  into  the  water  where  it  ran  the  swiftest. 
I  parted  the  vines  and  crept  where  the  roots  of  the  big 
oak  stretched  like  bony  fingers  over  the  water,  that  was 
slowly  eating  under  it  and  baring  its  roots.  I  sat  on  them 
above  the  water  and  thought.  I  had  decided  the  day  be- 
fore about  my  going  to  school,  and  the  day  before  that, 
and  many,  many  times  before  that,  and  here  I  was  having 
to  settle  it  all  over  again.  Doubled  on  the  oak  roots,  a 
troubled  little  soul,  I  settled  it  once  more.  No  books  or 
teachers  were  needed  to  tell  me  about  flowing  water  and 
fish,  how  hawks  raised  their  broods  and  kept  house,  about 
the  softly  cooing  doves  of  the  spice  thickets,  the  cuckoos 
slipping  snakelike  in  and  out  of  the  wild  crab-apple  bushes, 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  119 

or  the  brown  thrush's  weird  call  from  the  thorn  bush. 
I  knew  what  they  said  and  did,  but  their  names,  where 
they  came  from,  where  they  went  when  the  wind  blew 
and  the  snow  fell — how  was  I  going  to  find  out  that? 
Worse  yet  were  the  flowers,  butterflies,  and  moths;  they 
were  mysteries  past  learning  alone,  and  while  the  names  I 
made  up  for  them  were  pretty  and  suitable,  I  knew  in  all 
reason  they  wouldn't  be  the  same  in  the  books.  I  had  to 
go,  but  no  one  will  ever  know  what  it  cost.  When  the 
supper  bell  rang,  I  sat  still.  I'd  have  to  wait  until  at  least 
two  tables  had  been  served,  anyway,  so  I  sat  there  and 
nursed  my  misery,  looked  and  listened,  and  by  and  by 
I  felt  better.  I  couldn't  see  or  hear  a  thing  that  was  stand- 
ing still.  Father  said  even  the  rocks  grew  larger  year  by 
year.  The  trees  were  getting  bigger,  the  birds  were  busy, 
and  the  creek  was  in  a  dreadful  hurry  to  reach  the  river.  It 
was  like  that  poetry  piece  that  says: 

"When  a  playful  brook,  you  gambolled," 

(Mostly  that  gambolled  word  is  said  about  lambs) 

"And  the  sunshine  o'er  you  smiled, 
On  your  banks  did  children  loiter, 
Looking  for  the  spring  flowers  wild?" 

The  creek  was  more  in  earnest  and  working  harder 
at  pushing  steadily  ahead  without  ever  stopping  than 
anything  else;  and  like  the  poetry  piece  again,  it  really 
did  "seem  to  smile  upon  us  as  it  quickly  passed  us  by." 
I  had  to  quit  playing,  and  go  to  work  some  time;  it  made 


i2o  LADDIE 

me  sorry  to  think  how  behind  I  was,  because  I  had  not 
started  two  years  before,  when  I  should.  But  that 
couldn't  be  helped  now.  All  there  was  left  was  to  go  this 
time,  for  sure.  I  got  up  heavily  and  slowly  as  an  old 
person,  and  then  slipped  out  and  ran  down  the  path  to 
the  meadow,  because  I  could  hear  Leon  whistle  as  he 
came  to  bring  the  cows. 

By  fast  running  I  could  start  them  home  for  him:  Rose, 
Brindle,  Bess,  and  Pidy,  Sukey  and  Muley;  they  had 
eaten  all  day,  but  they  still  snatched  bites  as  they  went 
toward  the  gate.     I  wanted  to  surprise  Leon  and  I  did. 

"Getting  good,  ain't  you?"  he  asked.  "What  do  you 
want  ? " 

"Nothing!"  I  said.  "I  just  heard  you  coming  and  I 
thought  I'd  help  you." 

"Where  were  you?" 

"Playing." 

"You  don't  look  as  if  you'd  been  having  much  fun." 

"I  don't  expect  ever  to  have  any,  after  I  begin  school." 

"Oh!"  said  Leon.  "It  is  kind  of  tough  the  first  day 
or  two,  but  you'll  soon  get  over  it.  You  should  have  be- 
haved yourself,  and  gone  when  they  started  you  two 
years  ago." 

"Think  I  don't  know  it?" 

Leon  stopped  and  looked  at  me  sharply. 

"I'll  help  you  nights,  if  you  want  me  to,"  he  offered. 

"Can  I  ever  learn  ? "  I  asked,  almost  ready  to  cry. 

"Of  course  you  can,"  said  Leon.  "You're  smart  as 
the  others,  I  suppose.  The  sevens  and  nines  of  the  mul- 
tiplication table  are  the  stickers,  but  you  ought  to  do 


THE  LAST  DAY  IN  EDEN  121 

them  if  other  girls  can.  You  needn't  feel  bad  because 
you  are  behind  a  little  to  start  on;  you  are  just  that  much 
better  prepared  to  work,  and  you  can  soon  overtake  them. 
You  know  a  lot  none  of  the  rest  of  us  do,  and  some  day 
it  will  come  your  turn  to  show  off.  Cheer  up,  you'll  be 
all  right." 

Men  are  such  a  comfort.     I  pressed  closer  for  more. 

"Do  you  suppose  I  will?"  I  asked. 

"Of  course,"  said  Leon.  "Any  minute  the  woods, 
or  birds,  or  flowers  are  mentioned  your  time  will  come; 
and  all  of  us  will  hear  you  read  and  help  nights.  I'd 
just  as  soon  as  not." 

That  was  the  most  surprising  thing.  He  never  offered 
to  help  me  before.  He  never  acted  as  if  he  cared  what 
became  of  me.  Maybe  it  was  because  Laddie  always 
had  taken  such  good  care  of  me,  Leon  had  no  chance.  He 
seemed  willing  enough  now.     I  looked  at  him  closely. 

"You'll  find  out  I'll  learn  things  if  I  try,"  I  boasted. 
"And  you'll  find  out  I  don't  tell  secrets  either." 

"I've  been  waiting  for  you  to  pipe  up  about " 

"Well,  I  haven't  piped,  have  I?" 

"Not  yet." 

"I  am  not  going  to  either." 

"I  almost  believe  you.  A  girl  you  could  trust  would 
be  a  funny  thing  to  see." 

"Tell  me  what  you  know  about  Laddie,  and  see  if  I'm 
funny." 

"You'd  telltale  sure  as  life!" 

"Well,  if  you  know  it,  he  knows  it  anyway." 

"He  doesn't  know  what  I  know." 


122  LADDIE 

"Well,  be  careful  and  don't  worry  mother.  You 
know  how  she  is  since  the  fever,  and  father  says  all  of  us 
must  think  of  her.  If  it's  anything  that  would  bother  her, 
don't  tell  before  her." 

"Say,  looky  here,"  said  Leon,  turning  on  me  sharply, 
"is  all  this  sudden  consideration  for  mother  or  are  you 
legging  for  Laddie?" 

"For  both,"  I  answered  stoutly. 

"Mostly  for  Laddie,  just  the  same.  You  can't  fool 
me,  missy.     I  won't  tell  you  one  word." 

"You  needn't!"  I  answered,  "I  don't  care!" 

"Yes  you  do,"  he  said.  "You'd  give  anything  to  find 
out  what  I  know,  and  then  run  to  Laddie  with  it,  but 
you  can't  fool  me.     I'm  too  smart  for  you." 

"All  right,"  I  said.  "You  go  and  tell  anything  on 
Laddie,  and  I'll  watch  you,  and  first  trick  I  catch  you  at, 
I'll  do  some  telling  myself,  Smarty." 

"That's  a  game  more  than  one  can  play  at,"  said  Leon. 
"Go  ahead!" 


CHAPTER  V 
The  First  Day  of  School 

"Birds  in  their  little  nests  agree. 
And  why  can't  we?" 

-I-R-D-S,  birds,  i-n,  in,  t-h-e-i-r,  their,  1-i-t-t-l-e, 
little,  n-e-s-t-s,  nests,  a-g-r-e-e,  agree." 

My  feet  burned  in  my  new  shoes,  but  most  of 
my  body  was  chilling  as  I  stood  beside  Miss  Amelia  on  the 
platform,  before  the  whole  school,  and  followed  the  point 
of  her  pencil,  while,  a  letter  at  a  time,  I  spelled  aloud  my 
first  sentence.  Nothing  ever  had  happened  to  me  as  bad 
as  that.  I  was  not  used  to  so  much  clothing.  It  was 
like  taking  a  colt  from  the  woods  pasture  and  putting  it 
into  harness  for  the  first  time.  That  lovely  September 
morning  I  followed  Leon  and  May  down  the  dusty  road, 
my  heart  sick  with  dread. 

May  was  so  much  smaller  that  I  could  have  picked  her 
up  and  carried  her.  She  was  a  gentle,  loving  little  thing, 
until  some  one  went  too  far,  and  then  they  got  what  they 
deserved,  all  at  once  and  right  away. 

Many  of  the  pupils  were  waiting  before  the  church. 
Leon  climbed  the  steps,  made  a  deep  bow,  waved  toward 
the  school  building  across  the  way,  and  what  he  intended 
to  say  was,  "Still  sits  the  schoolhouse  by  the  road,"  but 

123 


124  LADDIE 

he  was  a  little  excited  and  the  s's  doubled  his  tongue,  so 
that  we  heard:  "Shill  stits  the  schoolhouse  by  the  road." 
We  just  yelled  and  I  forgot  a  little  about  myself. 

When  Miss  Amelia  came  to  the  door  and  rang  the  bell, 
May  must  have  remembered  something  of  how  her  first 
day  felt,  for  as  we  reached  the  steps  she  waited  for  me, 
took  me  in  with  her,  and  found  me  a  seat.  If  she  had  not, 
I'm  quite  sure  I'd  have  run  away  and  fought  until  they 
left  me  in  freedom,  as  I  had  two  years  before.  All  fore- 
noon I  had  shivered  in  my  seat,  while  classes  were  ar- 
ranged, and  the  elder  pupils  were  started  on  their  work; 
then  Miss  Amelia  called  me  to  her  on  the  platform  and 
tried  to  find  out  how  much  schooling  I  had.  I  was 
ashamed  that  I  knew  so  little,  but  there  was  no  sense  in 
her  making  me  spell  after  a  pencil,  like  a  baby.  I'd  never 
seen  the  book  she  picked  up.  I  could  read  the  line  she 
pointed  to,  and  I  told  her  so,  but  she  said  to  spell  the 
words;  so  I  thought  she  had  to  be  obeyed,  for  one  poetry 
piece  I  know  says: 

"Quickly  speed  your  steps  to  school 
And  there  mind  your  teacher's  rule." 

I  can  see  Miss  Amelia  to-day.  Her  pale  face  was  lined 
deeper  than  ever,  her  drab  hair  was  dragged  back  tighter. 
She  wore  a  black  calico  dress  with  white  huckleberries,  and 
a  white  calico  apron  figured  in  large  black  apples,  each 
having  a  stem  and  two  leaves.  In  dress  she  was  a  fruitful 
person.  She  had  been  a  surprise  to  all  of  us.  Chipper 
as  a  sparrow,  she  had  hopped,  and  chattered,  and  darted 
here  and  there,  until  the  hour  of  opening.     Then  in  the 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  125 

stress  of  arranging  classes  and  getting  started,  all  her 
birdlike  ways  slipped  from  her.  Stern  and  bony  she 
stood  before  us,  and  with  a  cold  light  in  her  pale  eyes, 
she  began  business  in  a  manner  that  made  Johnny  Hood 
forget  all  about  his  paper  wads,  and  Leon  commenced 
studying  like  a  good  boy,  and  never  even  tried  to  have 
fun  with  her.  Every  one  was  so  surprised  you  could 
notice  it,  except  May,  and  she  looked,  "I  told  you  so!" 
even  in  the  back.  She  had  a  way  of  doing  that  very 
thing  as  I  never  saw  any  one  else.  From  the  set  of  her 
head,  how  she  carried  her  shoulders,  the  stiffness  of  her 
spine,  and  her  manner  of  walking,  if  you  knew  her  well, 
you  could  tell  what  she  thought,  the  same  as  if  you  saw 
her  face. 

I  followed  that  pencil  point  and  in  a  husky  voice  re- 
peated the  letters.  I  could  see  Tillie  Baher  laughing  at  me 
from  behind  her  geography,  and  every  one  else  had  stopped 
what  they  were  doing  to  watch  and  listen,  so  I  forgot  to  be 
thankful  that  I  even  knew  my  a  b  c's.  I  spelled  through 
the  sentence,  pronounced  the  words  and  repeated  them 
without  much  thought  as  to  the  meaning;  at  that  moment 
it  didn't  occur  to  me  that  she  had  chosen  the  lesson 
because  father  had  told  her  how  I  made  friends  with  the 
birds.  The  night  before  he  had  been  putting  me  through 
memory  tests,  and  I  had  recited  poem  after  poem,  even 
long  ones  in  the  Sixth  Reader,  and  never  made  one  mistake 
when  the  piece  was  about  birds.  At  our  house,  we  heard 
next  day's  lessons  for  all  ages  gone  over  every  night  so 
often,  that  we  couldn't  help  knowing  them  by  heart,  if 
we  had  any  brains  at  all,  and  I  just  loved  to  get  the  big 


126  LADDIE 

folk's  readers  and  learn  the  bird  pieces.  Father  had  been 
telling  her  about  it,  so  for  that  reason  she  thought  she 
would  start  me  on  the  birds,  but  I'm  sure  she  made  me 
spell  after  a  pencil  point,  like  a  baby,  on  purpose  to 
shame  me,  because  I  was  two  years  behind  the  others  who 
were  near  my  age.  As  I  repeated  the  line  Miss  Amelia 
thought  she  saw  her  chance.  She  sprang  to  her  feet, 
tripped  a  few  steps  toward  the  centre  of  the  platform,  and 
cried:  "Classes,  attention!  Our  Youngest  Pupil  has  just 
completed  her  first  sentence.  This  sentence  contains  a 
Thought.  It  is  a  wonderfully  beautiful  Thought.  A 
Thought  that  suggests  a  great  moral  lesson  for  each  of  us. 
'Rirrrds — in  their  little  nests — agreeee.'" 

Never  have  I  heard  cooing  sweetness  to  equal  the  melt- 
ing tones  in  which  Miss  Amelia  drawled  those  words. 
Then  she  continued,  after  a  good  long  pause  in  order  to 
give  us  time  to  allow  the  "Thought"  to  sink  in:  "There 
is  a  lesson  in  this  for  all  of  us.  We  are  here  in  our  school- 
room, like  little  birds  in  their  nest.  Now  how  charming 
it  would  be  if  all  of  us  would  follow  the  example  of  the 
birds,  and  at  our  work,  and  in  our  play,  agreeee — be  kind, 
loving,  and  considerate  of  each  other.  Let  us  all  remem- 
ber always  this  wonderful  truth:  'Birrrrds — in  their 
little  nests — agreeeee!'" 

In  three  steps  I  laid  hold  of  her  apron.  Only  last  night 
Leon  had  said  it  would  come,  yet  whoever  would  have 
thought  that  I'd  get  a  chance  like  this,  so  soon. 

"Ho  but  they  don't!"  I  cried.  "They  fight  like  any- 
thing!    Every  day  they  make  the  feathers  fly!" 

In  a  backward  stroke  Miss  Amelia's  fingers,  big  and 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  127 

bony,  struck  my  cheek  a  blow  that  nearly  upset  me.  A 
red  wave  crossed  her  face,  and  her  eyes  snapped.  I  never 
had  been  so  surprised  in  all  my  life.  I  was  only  going  to 
tell  her  the  truth.  What  she  had  said  was  altogether 
false.  Ever  since  I  could  remember  I  had  watched  court- 
ing male  birds  fight  all  over  the  farm.  After  a  couple 
had  paired,  and  were  nest  building,  the  father  always 
drove  every  other  bird  from  his  location.  In  building 
I  had  seen  him  pecked  for  trying  to  place  a  twig.  I  had 
seen  that  happen  again  for  merely  offering  food  to  the 
mother,  if  she  didn't  happen  to  be  hungry,  or  for  trying 
to  make  love  to  her  when  she  was  brooding.  If  a  young 
bird  failed  to  get  the  bite  it  wanted,  it  sometimes  grabbed 
one  of  its  nestmates  by  the  bill,  or  the  eye  even,  and  tried  to 
swallow  it  whole.  Always  the  oldest  and  strongest  climbed 
on  top  of  the  youngest  and  fooled  his  mammy  into  feeding 
him  most  by  having  his  head  highest,  his  mouth  widest, 
and  begging  loudest.  There  could  be  no  mistake.  I  was 
so  amazed  I  forgot  the  blow,  as  I  stared  at  the  fool  woman. 

"I  don't  see  why  you  slap  me!"  I  cried.  "It's  the 
truth!  Lots  of  times  old  birds  pull  out  bunches  of  feath- 
ers fighting,  and  young  ones  in  the  nests  bite  each  other 
until  they  squeal." 

Miss  Amelia  caught  my  shoulders  and  shook  me  as 
hard  as  she  could;  and  she  proved  to  be  stronger  than 
you  ever  would  have  thought  to  look  at  her. 

"Take  your  seat!"  she  cried.  "You  are  a  rude,  un- 
trained child!" 

"They  do  fight!"  I  insisted,  as  I  held  my  head  high  and 
walked  to  my  desk. 


128  LADDIE 

Leon  laughed  out  loud,  and  that  made  every  one  else. 
Miss  Amelia  had  so  much  to  do  for  a  few  minutes  that 
she  forgot  me,  and  I  know  now  why  Leon  started  it,  at 
least  partly.  He  said  afterward  it  was  the  funniest  sight 
he  ever  saw.  My  cheek  smarted  and  burned.  I  could 
scarcely  keep  from  feeling  to  learn  whether  it  were  swell- 
ing, but  I  wouldn't  have  shed  a  tear  or  raised  my  hand  for 
anything  you  could  offer. 

Recess  was  coming  and  I  didn't  know  what  to  do.  If 
I  went  to  the  playground,  all  of  them  would  tease  me; 
and  if  I  sat  at  my  desk  Miss  Amelia  would  have  another 
chance  at  me.  That  was  too  much  to  risk,  so  I  followed 
the  others  outdoors,  and  oh  joy!  there  came  Laddie  down 
the  road.  He  set  me  on  one  of  the  posts  of  the  hitching 
rack  before  the  church,  and  with  my  arms  around  his 
neck,  I  sobbed  out  the  whole  story. 

"She  didn't  understand,"  said  Laddie  quietly.  "You 
stay  here  until  I  come  back.  I'll  go  and  explain  to  her 
about  the  birds.  Perhaps  she  hasn't  watched  them  as 
closely  as  you  have." 

Recess  was  over  before  he  returned.  He  had  wet  his 
handkerchief  at  the  water  bucket,  and  now  he  bathed  my 
face  and  eyes,  straightened  my  hair  with  his  pocket  comb, 
and  began  unlacing  my  shoes. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  I  asked.  "I  must  wear 
them.     All  the  girls  do.     Only  the  boys  are  barefoot." 

"You  are  excused,"  answered  Laddie.  "Three-fourths 
of  the  day  is  enough  to  begin  on.  Miss  Amelia  says  you 
may  come  with  me." 

"Where  are  you  going?" 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  129 

Laddie  was  stripping  off  my  stockings  as  he  looked  into 
my  eyes,  and  smiled  a  peculiar  little  smile. 

"Oh  Laddie!"  I  cried.     "Will  you  take  me?     Honest!" 

He  laughed  again  and  then  he  rubbed  my  feet. 

"Poor  abused  feet,"  he  said.  "Sometimes  I  wish  shoes 
had  never  been  invented." 

"They  feel  pretty  good  when  there's  ice." 

"So  they  do!"  said  Laddie. 

He  swung  me  to  the  ground,  and  we  crossed  the  road, 
climbed  the  fence,  and  in  a  minute  our  redbird  swamp 
shut  the  schoolhouse  and  cross  old  Miss  Amelia  from 
sight.  Then  we  turned  and  started  straight  toward  our 
Big  Woods.     I  could  scarcely  keep  on  the  ground. 

"How  are  the  others  getting  along?"  asked  Laddie. 

"She's  cross  as  two  sticks,"  I  told  him.  "Johnny 
Hood  hasn't  shot  one  paper  wad,  and  Leon  hadn't  done  a 
thing  until  he  laughed  about  the  birds,  and  I  guess  he  did 
that  to  make  her  forget  me." 

"Good!"  cried  Laddie.  "I  didn't  suppose  the  boy 
thought  that  far." 

"Oh  you  never  can  tell  by  looking  at  him,  how  far  Leon 
is  thinking,"  I  said. 

"That's  so,  too,"  said  Laddie.  "Are  your  feet  comfort- 
able now?" 

"Yes,  but  Laddie,  isn't  my  face  marked?" 

"I  am  afraid  it  is  a  little,"  said  Laddie.  "We'll  bathe 
it  again  at  the  creek.  We  must  get  it  fixed  so  mother 
won't  notice." 

"What  will  the  Princess  think  ? " 

"That  you  fell,  perhaps,"  said  Laddie. 


*3o  LADDIE 

"  Do  the  tears  show  ? " 

"Not  at  all.     We  washed  them  all  away." 

"Did  I  do  wrong,  Laddie?" 

"Yes,  I  think  you  did." 

"But  it  wasn't  true,  what  she  said." 

"That's  not  the  point." 

We  had  reached  the  fence  of  the  Big  Woods.  He  lifted 
me  to  the  top  rail  and  explained,  while  I  combed  his  wav- 
ing hair  with  my  fingers. 

"She  didn't  strike  you  because  what  you  said  was  not 
so,"  for  it  was.  She  knew  instantly  you  were  right,  if  she 
knows  anything  at  all  about  outdoors.  This  is  what  made 
her  angry:  it  is  her  first  day.  She  wanted  to  make  a 
good  impression  on  her  pupils,  to  arouse  their  interest, 
and  awaken  their  respect.  When  you  spoke,  all  of  them 
knew  you  were  right,  and  she  was  wrong;  that  made  her 
ridiculous.     Can't  you  see  how  it  made  her  look  and  feel  ? " 

"I  didn't  notice  how  she  looked,  but  from  the  way  she 
hit  me,  you  could  tell  she  felt  bad  enough." 

"She  surely  did,"  said  Laddie,  kissing  my  cheek  softly. 
"Poor  little  woman!  What  a  world  of  things  you  have 
to  learn!" 

"Shouldn't  I  have  told  her  how  mistaken  she  was  ? " 

"If  you  had  gone  to  her  alone,  at  recess  or  noon,  or 
to-night,  probably  she  would  have  thanked  you.  Then 
she  could  have  corrected  herself  at  some  convenient  time 
and  kept  her  dignity." 

"Must  I  ask  her  pardon ? " 

"What  you  should  do,  is  to  put  yourself  in  Miss  Amelia's 
place  and  try  to  understand  how  she  felt.     Then  if  you 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  131 

think  you  wouldn't  have  liked  any  one  to  do  to  you  what 
you  did  to  her,  you'll  know." 

I  hugged  Laddie  tight  and  thought  fast — there  was  no 
need  to  think  long  to  see  how  it  was. 

"I  got  to  tell  her  I  was  wrong,"  I  said.  "Now  let's 
go  to  the  Enchanted  Wood  and  see  if  we  can  find  the 
Queen's  daughter." 

"All  right!"  said  Laddie. 

He  leaped  the  fence,  swung  me  over,  and  started  toward 
the  pawpaw  thicket.  He  didn't  do  much  going  around. 
He  crashed  through  and  over;  and  soon  he  began  whistling 
the  loveliest  little  dancy  tune.  It  made  your  head  whirl, 
and  your  toes  tingle,  and  you  knew  it  was  singing  that 
way  in  his  heart,  and  he  was  just  letting  out  the  music. 
That  was  why  it  made  you  want  to  dance  and  whirl;  it 
was  so  alive.  But  that  wasn't  the  way  in  an  Enchanted 
Wood.     I  pulled  his  hand. 

"Laddie!"  I  cautioned,  "keep  in  the  path!  You'll 
step  on  the  Fairies  and  crush  a  whole  band  with  one 
foot.  No  wonder  the  Queen  makes  her  daughter  grow 
big  when  she  sends  her  to  you.  If  you  make  so  much 
noise,  some  one  will  hear  you,  then  this  won't  be  a  secret 
any  more." 

Laddie  laughed,  but  he  stepped  carefully  in  the  path 
after  that,  and  he  said:  "There  are  times,  Little  Sister, 
when  I  don't  care  whether  this  secret  is  secret  another 
minute  or  not.  Secrets  don't  agree  with  me.  I'm  too 
big,  and  broad,  and  too  much  of  a  man,  to  go  creeping 
through  the  woods  with  a  secret.  I  prefer  to  print  it  on  a 
banner  and  ride  up  the  road  waving  it." 


132  LADDIE 

"Like, — 'A  youth  who  bore  mid  snow  and  ice,  A  banner 
with  a  strange  device,"'  I  said. 

"That  would  be  'a  banner  with  a  strange  device," 
laughed  Laddie.     "But,  yes — something  like!" 

"Have  you  told  the  Princess?" 

"I  have!"     Laddie  fairly  shouted  it. 

"Does  she  like  secrets?" 

"No  more  than  I  do!" 

"Then  why ? 

"There  you  go!"  said  Laddie.  "Zeus,  but  the  woman 
is  beginning  to  measle  out  all  over  you!  You  know  as 
well  as  any  one  that  there's  something  wrong  at  her  house. 
I  don't  know  what  it  is;  I  can't  even  make  a  sensible 
guess  as  yet,  but  it's  worse  than  the  neighbours  think. 
It's  a  thing  that  has  driven  a  family  from  their  home 
country,  under  a  name  that  I  have  doubts  about  being 
theirs,  and  sent  them  across  an  ocean,  'strangers  in  a 
strange  land,'  as  it  says  in  the  Bible.  It's  something  that 
keeps  a  cultured  gentleman  and  scholar  raging  up  and 
down  the  roads  and  over  the  country  like  a  madman. 
It  shuts  a  white-faced,  lovely,  little  woman  from  her 
neighbours,  but  I  have  passed  her  walking  the  road  at 
night  with  both  hands  pressed  against  her  heart.  Some- 
times it  tries  the  Princess  past  endurance  and  control: 
and  it  has  her  so  worn  and  tired  struggling  with  it  that 
she  is  willing  to  carry  another  secret,  rather  than  try  to 
find  strength  to  do  anything  that  would  make  more 
trouble  for  her  father  and  mother." 

"Would  it  trouble  them  for  her  to  know  you,  Lad- 
die?" 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  133 

"So  long  as  they  don't  and  won't  become  acquainted 
with  me,  or  any  one,  of  course  it  would." 

"Can't  you  force  them  to  know  you?" 

"That  I  can!"  said  Laddie.  "But  you  see,  I  only  met 
the  Princess  a  short  time  ago,  and  there  would  be  no  use  in 
raising  trouble,  unless  she  will  make  me  her  Knight!" 

"But  hasn't  she,  Laddie?" 

"Not  in  the  very  littlest  least,"  said  Laddie.  "For 
all  I  know,  she  is  merely  using  me  to  help  pass  a  lonely 
hour.  You  see,  people  reared  in  England  have  ideas  of 
class,  that  two  or  three  generations  spent  here  wash  out. 
The  Princess  and  her  family  are  of  the  unwashed  British. 
Father's  people  have  been  here  long  enough  to  judge  a 
man  on  his  own  merits." 

"You  mean  the  Princess'  family  would  think  you're 
not  good  enough  to  be  her  Knight?" 

"Exactly!" 

"And  we  know  that  our  family  thinks  they  are  infidels, 
and  wicked  people;  and  that  if  she  would  have  you,  mother 
would  be  sick  in  bed  over  it.     Oh  Laddie!" 

"Precisely!" 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"That  I  must  find  out." 

"When  it  will  make  so  much  trouble,  why  not  forget 
her,  and  go  on  like  you  did  before  she  came?  Then,  all 
of  us  were  happy.  Now,  it  makes  me  shiver  to  think 
what  will  happen." 

"Me  too,"  said  Laddie.  "But  look  here,  Little  Sister, 
right  in  my  face.     Will  you  ever  forget  the  Princess  ? " 

"Never!" 


134  LADDIE 

"Then  how  can  you  ask  me  to?" 

"I  didn't  mean  forget  her,  exactly.  I  meant  not  come 
here  and  do  things  that  will  make  every  one  unhappy." 

"One  minute,  Chick-a-Biddy,"  said  Laddie.  Sometimes 
he  called  me  that,  when  he  loved  me  the  very  most  of  all. 
I  don't  believe  any  one  except  me  ever  heard  him  do  it. 
"Let  me  ask  you  this:  does  our  father  love  our  mother?" 

"Love  her?"  I  cried.  "Why  he  just  loves  her  to  death! 
He  turns  so  white,  and  he  suffers  so,  when  her  pain  is  the 
worst.  Love  her?  And  she  him?  Why,  don't  you 
remember  the  other  day  when  he  tipped  her  head  against 
him  and  kissed  her  throat  as  he  left  the  table;  that  he  asked 
her  if  she  'loved  him  yet,'  ?nd  she  said  right  before  all  of 
us,  'Why  Paul,  I  love  you,  until  I  scarcely  can  keep  my 
fingers  off  you!*  Laddie,  is  it  like  that  with  you  and  the 
Princess  ? " 

"It  is  with  me,"  said  Laddie.  "Not  with  the  Princess! 
Now,  can  I  forget  her?  Can  I  keep  away  from  even  the 
chance  to  pass  her  on  the  road?" 

"No,"  I  said.  "No,  you  can't,  Laddie.  But  can  you 
ever  make  her  love  you  ? " 

"It  takes  time  to  find  that  out,"  said  Laddie.  "I 
have  got  to  try;  so  you  be  a  woman  and  keep  my  secret  a 
little  while  longer,  until  I  find  a  way  out,  but  don't  bother 
your  head  about  it!" 

"I  can't  help  bothering  my  head,  Laddie.  Can't  you 
make  her  understand  that  God  is  not  a  myth?" 

"I'm  none  too  sure  what  I  believe  myself,"  said  Laddie. 
"Not  that  there  is  no  God — I  don't  mean  that — but  I 
surely  don't  believe  all  father's  teachings." 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  135 

"If  you  believe  God,  do  other  little  things  matter, 
Laddie?" 

"I  think  not,"  said  Laddie,  "else  Heaven  would  be  all 
Methodists.  As  for  the  Princess,  all  she  has  heard  in  her 
life  has  been  against  there  being  a  God.  Now,  she  is 
learning  something  on  the  other  side.  After  a  while  she 
can  judge  for  herself.  It  is  for  us,  who  profess  to  be  a 
Christian  family,  to  prove  to  her  why  we  believe  in  God, 
and  what  He  does  for  us." 

"Well,  she  would  think  He  could  do  a  good  deal,  if  she 
knew  how  mother  hated  asking  her  to  come  to  our  house; 
and  yet  she  did  it,  beautifully  too,  just  to  give  her  a  chance 
to  see  that  very  thing.  But  I  almost  made  her  do  it. 
I  don't  believe  she  ever  would  alone,  Laddie,  or  at  least 
not  for  a  long  time  yet." 

"I  saw  that,  and  understood  it  perfectly,"  said  Laddie. 
"Thank  you.  Little  Sister."  He  picked  me  up  and 
hugged  me  tight.     "If  I  could  only  make  you  see!" 

"But  Laddie,  I  do!  I'm  not  a  baby!  I  know  how 
people  love  and  make  homes  for  themselves,  like  Sally  and 
Peter  are  going  to.  If  it  is  with  you  about  the  Princess  as 
it  is  with  father  and  mother,  why  I  do  know." 

"All  right!     Here  we  are!"  said  Laddie. 

Lie  parted  the  willows  and  we  stepped  on  the  Magic 
Carpet,  and  that  minute  the  Magic  worked.  I  forgot 
every  awful,  solemn,  troublous  thing  v/e  had  been  talking 
about,  and  looked  around  while  Laddie  knelt  and  hunted 
for  a  letter,  and  there  was  none.  That  meant  the  Prin- 
cess was  coming,  so  we  sat  on  the  throne  to  wait.  We 
hadn't  remembered  to  bathe  my  cheek,  we  had  been  so 


136  LADDIE 

busy  when  we  passed  the  water,  and  I  doubt  if  we  were 
thinking  much  then.  We  just  waited.  The  willow  walls 
waved  gently,  the  moss  carpet  was  spotted  with  little  gold 
patches  of  sunlight,  in  the  shade  a  few  of  the  red  flowers 
still  bloomed,  and  big,  lazy  bumblebees  hummed  around 
them,  or  a  hummingbird  stood  on  air  before  them.  A 
sort  of  golden  throbbing  filled  the  woods,  and  my  heart 
began  to  leap,  why,  I  don't  know;  but  I'm  sure  Laddie's 
did  too,  for  I  looked  at  him  and  his  eyes  were  shining  as 
I  never  had  seen  them  before,  while  his  cheeks  were  a  little 
red,  and  he  was  breathing  like  when  you've  been  running; 
then  suddenly  his  body  grew  tense  against  mine,  and  that 
meant  she  was  coming. 

Like  that  first  day,  she  came  slowly  through  the  woods, 
stopping  here  and  there  to  touch  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  put 
back  a  branch,  or  bend  over  a  flower  face.  Brown  as  the 
wood  floor  was  her  dress,  and  cardinal  flowers  blazed  on 
her  breast,  and  the  same  colour  showed  on  her  cheeks  and 
lips.  Her  eyes  were  like  Laddie's  for  brightness,  and  she 
was  breathing  the  same  way.  I  thought  sure  there  was 
going  to  be  something  to  remember  a  lifetime — I  was  so 
excited  I  couldn't  stand  still.  Before  it  could  happen 
Laddie  went  and  said  it  was  a  "beautiful  day,"  and  she 
said  "it  didn't  show  in  the  woods,  but  the  pastures  needed 
rain."  Then  she  kissed  me.  Well  if  I  ever!  I  sank 
on  the  throne  and  sat  there.  They  went  on  talking  like 
that,  until  it  was  too  dull  to  bear,  so  I  slipped  out  and 
wandered  away  to  see  what  I  could  find.  When  I  grew 
tired  and  went  back,  Laddie  was  sitting  on  the  Magic 
Carpet  with  his  back  against  the  beech,  and  the  Princess 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  137 

was  on  the  throne  reading  from  a  little  book,  reading  such 
interesting  things  that  I  decided  to  listen.  After  a  while 
she  came  to  this: 

"Thou  art  mated  with  a  clown, 
And  the  grossness  of  his  nature,  will  have  weight  to  bear  thee  down." 

Laddie  threw  back  his  head,  and  how  he  laughed! 
The  Princess  put  down  the  book  and  looked  at  him  so 
surprised. 

"Are  you  reading  that  to  me  because  you  think  it 
appropriate?"  asked  Laddie. 

"I  am  reading  it  because  it  is  conceded  to  be  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  poems  ever  written,"  said  the  Princess. 

"You  knew  when  you  began  that  you  would  come  to 
those  lines." 

"I  never  even  thought  of  such  a  thing." 

"But  you  knew  that  is  how  your  father  would  regard 
any  relationship,  friendly  or  deeper,  with  me!" 

"I  cannot  possibly  be  held  responsible  for  what  my 
father  thinks." 

"It  is  natural  that  you  should  think  alike." 

"Not  necessarily!  You  told  me  recently  that  you 
didn't  agree  with  your  father  on  many  subjects." 

"Kindly  answer  me  this,"  said  Laddie:  "Do  you  feel 
that  I'm  a  'clown'  because  I'm  not  schooled  to  the 
point  on  all  questions  of  good  manners?  Do  you  find 
me  gross  because  I  plow  and  sow?" 

"You  surprise  me,"  said  the  Princess.  "My  consent- 
ing to  know  and  to  spend  a  friendly  hour  with  you  here 
is  sufficient  answer.     I  have  not  found  the  slightest  fault 


138  LADDIE 

with  your  manners.  I  have  seen  no  suspicion  of  'gross- 
ness'  about  you." 

"Will  you  tell  me,  frankly,  exactly  what  you  do  think 
of  me  ? " 

"Surely!  I  think  you  are  a  clean,  decent  man,  who 
occasionally  kindly  consents  to  put  a  touch  of  human 
interest  into  an  hour,  for  a  very  lonely  girl.  What  has 
happened,  Laddie?     This  is  not  like  you." 

Laddie  sat  straight  and  studied  the  beech  branches. 
Father  said  beech  trees  didn't  amount  to  much;  but  I  first 
learned  all  about  them  from  that  one,  and  what  it  taught 
me  made  me  almost  worship  them  always.  There  were 
the  big  trunk  with  great  rough  spreading  roots,  the  bark 
in  little  ridges  in  places,  smooth  purple  gray  between,  big 
lichens  for  ornament,  the  low  flat  branches,  the  waxy, 
wavy-edged  leaves,  with  clear  veins,  and  the  delicious 
nuts  in  their  little  brown  burrs.  The  Princess  and  I  both 
stared  at  the  branches  and  waited  while  a  little  breath  of 
air  stirred  the  leaves,  the  sunshine  flickered,  and  a  cricket 
sang  a  sort  of  lonesome  song.  Laddie  leaned  against  the 
tree  again,  and  he  was  thinking  so  hard,  to  look  at  him 
made  me  begin  to  repeat  to  myself  the  beech  part  of  that 
beautiful  churchyard  poem  our  big  folks  recite: 

"There,  at  the  foot  of  yonder  nodding  beech, 

That  wreathes  its  old  fantastic  roots  so  high, 
His  listless  length  at  noontide  he  would  stretch, 
And  pore  upon  the  brook  that  babbles  by." 

Only  he  was  studying  so  deeply  you  could  almost  feel 
what  was  in  his  mind,  and  it  was  not  about  the  brook  at 
all,  even  if  one  ran  close.     Soon  he  began  talking. 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  139 

"Not  so  bad!"  he  said.  "You  might  think  worse. 
I  admit  the  cleanliness,  I  strive  for  decency,  I  delight  in 
being  humanely  interesting,  even  for  an  hour;  you  might 
think  worse,  much  worse!  You  might  consider  me  a 
*  clown/  'A  country  clod.'  Rather  a  lowdown,  common 
thing,  a  'clod,'  don't  you  think?  And  a  'clown'!  And 
'gross'  on  top  of  that!" 

"What  can  you  mean?"  asked  the  Princess. 

"Since  you  don't  seem  to  share  the  estimate  of  me,  I 
believe  I'll  teil  you,"  said  Laddie.  "The  other  day  I  was 
driving  from  the  gravel  pit  with  a  very  heavy  load.  The 
road  was  wide  and  level  on  either  side.  A  man  came 
toward  me  on  horseback.  Now  the  law  of  the  road  is  to 
give  half  to  a  vehicle  similar  to  the  one  you  are  driving, 
but  to  keep  all  of  it  when  you  are  heavily  loaded,  if  you 
are  passing  people  afoot  or  horseback  The  man  took  half 
the  road,  and  kept  it  until  the  nose  of  his  horse  touched 
one  of  the  team  I  was  driving.  I  stopped  and  said: 
'Good  morning,  sir!  Do  you  wish  to  speak  with  me?* 
He  called  angrily :  '  Get  out  of  my  way,  you  clod ! '  '  Sorry 
sir,  but  I  can't,'  I  said.  'The  law  gives  me  this  road 
when  I  am  heavily  loaded,  and  you  are  on  foot  or  horse- 
back.'" 

"What  did  he  do?"  asked  the  Princess. 

And  from  the  way  she  looked  I  just  knew  she  guessed 
the  man  was  the  same  one  I  thought  of. 

"He  raised  his  whip  to  strike  my  horse,"  said  Laddie 

"Ah,  surely!"  said  the  Princess.  "Always  an  arm 
raised  to  strike.  And  you,  Man?  What  did  you  do?,y 
she  cried  eagerly. 


140  LADDIE 

"I  stood  on  my  load,  suddenly,"  said  Laddie,  "and  1 
called:     'Hold  one  minute!'" 

"And  he?"  breathed  the  Princess. 

"Something  made  him  pause  with  his  arm  still  raised. 
I  said  to  him:  'You  must  not  strike  my  horse.  It  never 
has  been  struck,  and  it  can't  defend  itself.  If  you  want 
to  come  a  few  steps  farther  and  tackle  me,  come  ahead! 
I  can  take  it  or  return  it,  as  I  choose. " 

"Go  on!"  said  the  Princess. 

"That's  all,"  said  Laddie,  "or  at  kast  almost  all." 

"Did  he  strike?" 

"He  did  not.  He  stared  at  me  a  second,  and  then  he 
rode  around  me;  but  he  was  making  forceful  remarks  as 
he  passed  about  'country  clods,'  and  there  was  an  interest- 
ing one  about  a  'gross  clown.'  What  you  read  made  me 
think  of  it,  that  is  all." 

The  Princess  stared  into  the  beech  branches  for  a  time 
and  then  she  said:  "I  will  ask  your  pardon  for  him.  He 
always  had  a  domineering  temper,  and  trouble  he  had 
lately  has  almost  driven  him  mad;  he  is  scarcely  responsi- 
ble at  times.     I  hesitate  about  making  him  angry." 

"I  think  perhaps,"  said  Laddie,  "I  would  have  done 
myself  credit  if  I  had  recognized  that,  and  given  him  the 
road,  when  he  made  a  point  of  claiming  it." 

"Indeed  no!"  cried  the  Princess.  "To  be  beaten  at 
the  game  he  started  was  exactly  what  he  needed.  If  you 
had  turned  from  his  way,  he  would  have  considered  you  a 
clod  all  his  life.  Since  you  made  him  go  around,  it  may 
possibly  dawn  on  him  that  you  are  a  man.  You  did  the 
very  best  thing." 


He   caught   her   hands   and   held   them   tight,    and    looked 
straight  into  her  eyes" 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  SCHOOL  141 

Then  she  began  to  laugh,  and  how  she  did  laugh. 

"I  would  give  my  allowance  for  a  quarter  to  have  seen 
it,"  she  cried.     "  I  must  hurry  home  and  tell  mother." 

"Does  your  mother  know  about  me?"  he  demanded, 
"  Does  she  know  that  you  come  here  ? " 

The  Princess  arose  and  stood  very  tall  and  straight. 

"You  may  beg  my  pardon  or  cease  to  know  me,"  she 
said.  "Whatever  led  you  to  suppose  that  I  would  know 
or  meet  you  without  my  mother's  knowledge?" 

Then  she  started  toward  the  entrance. 

"One  minute! "  cried  Laddie. 

A  leap  carried  him  to  her  side.  He  caught  her  hands 
and  held  them  tight,  and  looked  straight  into  her  eyes. 
Then  he  kissed  her  hands  over  and  over.  I  thought  from 
the  look  on  her  face  he  might  have  kissed  her  cheek  if  he 
had  dared  risk  it;  but  he  didn't  seem  to  notice.  Then 
she  stooped  and  kissed  me,  and  turned  toward  home,  while 
Laddie  and  I  crossed  the  woods  to  the  west  road,  and  went 
back  past  the  schoolhouse.  I  was  so  tired  Laddie  tied  the 
strings  together  and  hung  my  shoes  across  his  shoulders 
and  took  me  by  the  arm  the  last  mile. 

All  of  them  were  at  home  when  we  got  there,  and  Miss 
Amelia  came  to  the  gate  to  meet  us.  She  was  mealy- 
mouthed  and  good  as  pie,  not  at  all  as  I  had  supposed 
she  would  be.  I  wonder  what  Laddie  said  to  her.  But 
then  he  always  could  manage  things  for  every  one.  That 
set  me  to  wondering  if  by  any  possible  means  he  could  fix 
them  for  himself.  I  climbed  to  the  catalpa  to  think,  and 
the  more  I  thought,  the  more  I  feared  he  couldn't;  but 
still  mother  always  says  one  never  can  tell  until  they  try, 


142  LADDIE 

and  I  knew  he  would  try  with  every  ounce  of  brain  and 
muscle  in  him.  I  sat  there  until  the  supper  bell  rang,  and 
then  I  washed  and  reached  the  table  last.  The  very  first 
thing,  mother  asked  how  I  bruised  my  face,  and  before 
I  could  think  what  to  tell  her,  Leon  said  just  as  careless 
like:  "Oh  she  must  have  run  against  something  hard, 
playing  tag  at  recess."  Laddie  began  talking  about  Peter 
coming  that  night,  and  every  one  forgot  me,  but  pretty 
soon  I  slipped  a  glance  at  Miss  Amelia,  and  saw  that  her 
face  was  redder  than  mine, 


CHAPTER  VI 
The  Wedding  Gown 

"The  gay  belles  of  fashion  may  boast  of  excelling 

In  waltz  or  cotillon,  at  whist  or  quadrille; 
And  seek  admiration   by  vauntingly  telling 

Of  drawing  and  painting,  and  musical  skill; 
But  give  me  the  fair  one,  in  country  or  city, 

Whose  home  and  its  duties  are  dear  to  her  heart. 
Who  cheerfully  warbles  some  rustical  ditty, 

While  plying  the  needle  with  exquisite  art: 
The  bright  little  needle,  the  swift-flying  needle, 

The  needle  directed  by  beauty  and  art." 

THE  next  morning  Miss  Amelia  finished  the  chap- 
ter— that  made  two  for  our  family.  Father  al- 
ways read  one  before  breakfast — no  wonder  I 
knew  the  Bible  quite  well — then  we  sang  a  song,  and 
she  made  a  stiff,  little  prayer.  I  had  my  doubts  about 
her  prayers;  she  was  on  no  such  terms  with  the  Lord  as 
my  father.  He  got  right  at  Him  and  talked  like  a  doctor, 
and  you  felt  he  had  some  influence,  and  there  was  at  least 
a  possibility  that  he  might  get  what  he  asked  for;  but 
Miss  Amelia  prayed  as  if  the  Lord  were  ten  million  miles 
away,  and  she  would  be  surprised  to  pieces  if  she  got  any- 
thing she  wanted.  When  she  asked  the  Almighty  to  make 
us  good,  obedient  children,  there  was  not  a  word  she  said 
that  showed  she  trusted  either  the  Lord  or  us,  or  thought 
there  was  anything  between  us  and  heaven  that  might 

143 


144  LADDIE 

make  us  good  because  we  wanted  to  be.  You  couldn't 
keep  your  eyes  from  the  big  gad  and  ruler  on  her  desk; 
she  often  fingered  them  as  she  prayed,  and  you  knew  from 
her  stiff,  little,  sawed-out  petition  that  her  faith  was  in 
implements,  and  she'd  hit  you  a  crack  the  minute  she 
was  the  least  angry,  same  as  she  had  me  the  day  before. 
I  didn't  feel  any  too  good  toward  her,  but  when  the  blocd 
of  the  Crusaders  was  in  the  veins,  right  must  be  done  even 
if  it  took  a  struggle.  I  had  to  live  up  to  those  little  gold 
shells  on  the  trinket.  Father  said  they  knew  I  was  coming 
down  the  line,  so  they  put  on  a  bird  for  me;  but  I  told 
him  I  would  be  worthy  of  the  shells  too.  This  took  about 
as  hard  a  fight  for  me  as  any  Crusade  would  for  a  big, 
trained  soldier.  I  had  been  wrong,  Laddie  had  made  me 
see  that.  So  I  held  up  my  hand,  and  Miss  Amelia  saw 
me  as  she  picked  up  Ray's  arithmetic. 

"What  is  it?" 

I  held  to  the  desk  to  brace  myself,  and  tried  twice 
before  I  could  raise  my  voice  so  that  she  heard. 

"Please,  Miss  Amelia,"  I  said,  "I  was  wrong  about  the 
birds  yesterday.  Not  that  they  don't  fight — they  do! 
But  I  was  wrong  to  contradict  you  before  everyone,  and  on 
your  first  day,  and  if  you'll  only  excuse  me,  the  next  time 
you  make  a  mistake,  I'll  tell  you  after  school  or  at  recess." 

The  room  was  so  still  you  could  hear  the  others  breath* 
ing.  Miss  Amelia  picked  up  the  ruler  and  started  toward 
me.  Possibly  I  raised  my  hands.  That  would  be  na 
Crusader  way,  but  you  might  do  it  before  you  had  time 
to  think,  when  the  ruler  was  big  and  your  head  was  the 
only  place  that  would  be  hit.     The  last  glimpse  I  had  o{ 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  145 

her  in  the  midst  of  all  my  trouble  made  me  think  of  Sa~ 
bethany  Perkins. 

Sabethany  died,  and  they  buried  her  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill  in  our  graveyard  before  I  could  remember.  But 
her  people  thought  heaps  of  her,  and  spent  much  money 
on  the  biggest  tombstone  in  the  cemetery,  and  planted 
pinies  and  purple  phlox  on  her,  and  went  every  Sunday  to 
visit  her.  When  they  moved  away,  they  missed  her  so, 
they  decided  to  come  back  and  take  her  along.  The  men 
were  at  work,  and  Leon  and  I  went  to  see  what  was  going 
on.  They  told  us,  and  said  we  had  better  go  away, 
because  possibly  things  might  happen  that  children  would 
sleep  better  not  to  see.  Strange  how  a  thing  like  that 
makes  you  bound  you  will  see.  We  went  and  sat  on  the 
fence  and  waited.  Soon  they  reached  Sabethany,  but 
they  could  not  seem  to  get  her  out.  They  tried,  and 
tried,  and  at  last  they  sent  for  more  men.  It  took  nine 
of  them  to  bring  her  to  the  surface.  What  little  wood 
was  left,  they  laid  back  to  see  what  made  her  so  fear- 
fully heavy,  and  there  she  was  turned  to  solid  stone,, 
They  couldn't  chip  a  piece  off  her  with  the  shovel.  Mother 
always  said,  "For  goodness  sake,  don't  let  your  mouth 
hang  open,"  and  as  a  rule  we  kept  ours  shut;  but  you 
should  have  seen  Leon's  when  he  saw  Sabethany  wouldn't 
chip  off,  and  no  doubt  mine  was  as  bad. 

"When  Gabriel  blows  his  trumpet,  and  the  dead  arise 
and  come  forth,  what  on  earth  will  they  do  with  Sabeth-= 
any?"  I  gasped.  "Why,  she  couldn't  fly  to  Heaven  with 
wings  a  mile  wide,  and  what  use  could  they  make  of  hex 
if  she  got  there?" 


146  LADDIE 

"I  can't  see  a  thing  she'd  be  good  for  except  a  hitch- 
ing post,"  said  Leon,  "and  I  guess  they  don't  let  horses  in. 
Let's  go  home." 

He  acted  sick  and  I  felt  that  way;  so  we  went,  but  the 
last  glimpse  of  Sabethany  remained  with  me. 

As  my  head  went  down  that  day,  I  saw  that  Miss 
Amelia  looked  exactly  like  her.  You  would  have  needed 
a  pick-ax  or  a  crowbar  to  flake  off  even  a  tiny  speck  of 
her.  When  I  had  waited  for  my  head  to  be  cracked,  until 
I  had  time  to  remember  that  a  Crusader  didn't  dodge  and 
hide,  I  looked  up,  and  there  she  stood  with  the  ruler  lifted; 
but  now  she  had  turned  just  the  shade  of  the  wattles  on 
our  fightingest  turkey  gobbler. 

"Won't  you  please  forgive  me ? " 

I  never  knew  I  had  said  it  until  I  heard  it,  and  then 
the  only  way  to  be  sure  was  because  no  one  else  would 
have  been  likely  to  speak  at  that  time. 

Miss  Amelia's  arm  dropped  and  she  glared  at  me.  I 
wondered  whether  I  ever  would  understand  grown  people; 
I  doubted  if  they  understood  themselves,  for  after  turning 
to  stone  in  a  second — father  said  it  had  taken  Sabeth- 
any seven  years — and  changing  to  gobbler  red,  Miss 
Amelia  suddenly  began  to  laugh.  To  laugh,  of  all  things! 
And  then,  of  course,  every  one  else  just  yelled.  I  was  so 
mortified  I  dropped  my  head  again  and  began  to  cry  as 
I  never  would  if  she'd  hit  me. 

"Don't  feel  badly!"  said  Miss  Amelia.  "Certainly, 
I'll  forgive  you.  I  see  you  had  no  intention  of  giving 
offense,  so  none  is  taken.  Get  out  your  book  and  study 
hard  on  another  lesson." 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  147 

That  was  surprising.  I  supposed  I'd  have  to  do  the 
same  one  over,  but  I  might  take  a  new  one.  I  was  either 
getting  along  fast,  or  Miss  Amelia  had  her  fill  of  birds. 
I  wiped  my  eyes  as  straight  in  front  of  me  as  I  could 
slip  up  my  handkerchief,  and  began  studying  the  first 
lesson  in  my  reader:  "Pretty  bee,  pray  tell  me  why,  thus 
from  flower  to  flower  you  fly,  culling  sweets  the  live- 
long day,  never  leaving  off" to  play?"  That  was  a  poetry 
piece,  and  it  was  quite  cheery,  although  it  was  all  strung 
together  like  prose,  but  you  couldn't  fool  me  on  poetry; 
I  knew  it  every  time.  As  I  studied  I  felt  better,  and  when 
Miss  Amelia  came  to  hear  me  she  was  good  as  gold.  She 
asked  if  I  liked  honey,  and  I  started  to  tell  her  about  the 
queen  bee,  but  she  had  no  time  to  listen,  so  she  said  I 
should  wait  until  after  school.  Then  we  both  forgot  it, 
for  when  we  reached  home,  the  Princess'  horse  was  hitched 
to  our  rack,  and  I  fairly  ran  in,  I  was  so  anxious  to  know 
what  was  happening. 

I  was  just  perfectly  amazed  at  grown  people!  After  all 
the  things  our  folks  had  said!  You'd  have  supposed  that 
Laddie  would  have  been  locked  in  the  barn;  father  reading 
the  thirty-second  Psalm  to  the  Princess,  and  mother  on 
her  knees  asking  God  to  open  her  eyes  like  Saul's  when  he 
tried  to  kick  against  the  pricks,  and  make  her  to  see,  as  he 
did,  that  God  was  not  a  myth.  Well,  there  was  no  one  in  the 
sitting-room  or  the  parlour,  but  there  were  voices  farther  on ; 
so  I  slipped  in.  I  really  had  to  slip,  for  there  was  no  other 
place  they  could  be  except  the  parlour  bedroom,  and  Sally's 
wedding  things  were  locked  up  there,  and  we  were  not  to  see 
until  everything  was  finished,  like  I  told  you. 


i48  LADDIE 

Well,  this  was  what  I  saw:  our  bedroom  had  been  a 
porch  once,  and  when  we  had  been  crowded  on  account  of 
all  of  us  coming,  father  enclosed  it  and  made  a  room. 
But  he  never  had  taken  out  the  window  in  the  wall.  So 
all  I  had  to  do  when  I  wanted  to  know  how  fast  the 
dresses  were  being  made,  was  to  shove  up  the  window 
above  my  bed,  push  back  the  blind,  and  look  in.  I 
didn't  care  what  she  had.  I  just  wanted  to  get  ahead  of 
her  and  see  before  she  was  ready,  to  pay  her  for  beating 
me.  I  knew  what  she  had,  and  I  meant  to  tell  her,  and 
walk  away  with  my  nose  in  the  air  when  she  offered  to 
show  me;  but  this  was  different.  I  was  wild  to  see  what 
was  going  on  because  the  Princess  was  there.  The  room 
was  small,  and  the  big  cherry  four-poster  was  very  large, 
and  all  of  them  were  talking,  so  no  one  paid  the  slightest 
attention  to  me. 

Mother  sat  in  the  big  rocking  chair,  with  Sally  on  one 
of  its  arms,  leaning  against  her  shoulder.  Shelley  and 
May  and  the  sewing  woman  were  crowded  between  the 
wall  and  the  footboard,  and  the  others  lined  against  the 
wall.  The  bed  was  heaped  in  a  tumble  of  everything  a 
woman  ever  wore.  Seemed  to  me  there  was  more  stuff 
there  than  all  the  rest  of  us  had,  put  together.  The 
working  dresses  and  aprons  had  been  made  on  the  ma- 
chine, but  there  were  heaps  and  stacks  of  hand-made 
underclothes.  I  could  see  the  lovely  chemise  mother 
embroidered  lying  on  top  of  a  pile  of  bedding,  and  over 
and  over  Sally  had  said  that  every  stitch  in  the  wedding 
gown  must  be  taken  by  hand.  The  Princess  stood  beside 
the  bed.     A  funny  little  tight  hat  like  a  man's  and  a  riding 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  149 

whip  lay  on  a  chair  close  by.  I  couldn't  see  what  she 
wore — her  usual  riding  clothes  probably — for  she  had  a 
nip  in  each  shoulder  of  a  dress  she  was  holding  to  her  chin 
and  looking  down  at.  After  all,  I  hadn't  seen  everything! 
Never  before  or  since  have  I  seen  a  lovelier  dress  than  that. 
It  was  what  always  had  been  wrapped  in  the  sheet  on  the 
foot  of  the  bed  and  I  hadn't  got  a  peep  at  it.  The  pale 
green  silk  with  tiny  pink  moss  roses  in  it,  that  I  had  been 
thinking  was  the  wedding  dress,  looked  about  right  to 
wash  the  dishes  in,  compared  with  this. 

This  was  a  wedding  dress.  You  didn't  need  any  one 
to  tell  you.  The  Princess  had  as  much  red  as  I  ever  had 
seen  in  her  cheeks,  her  eyes  were  bright,  and  she  was 
half-laughing  and  half-crying. 

"Oh  you  lucky,  lucky  girl!"  she  was  saying.  "What 
a  perfectly  beautiful  bride  you  will  be!  Never  have  I 
seen  a  more  wonderful  dress!  Where  did  you  get  the 
material?" 

Now  we  had  been  trained  always  to  wait  for  mother 
to  answer  a  visitor  as  she  thought  suitable,  or  at  least  to 
speak  one  at  a  time  and  not  interrupt;  but  about  six 
of  those  grown  people  told  the  Princess  all  at  the  same  time 
how  our  oldest  sister  Elizabeth  was  married  to  a  merchant 
who  had  a  store  at  Westchester  and  how  he  got  the  dress 
in  New  York,  and  gave  it  to  Sally  for  her  wedding  present, 
or  she  never  could  have  had  it. 

The  Princess  lifted  it  and  set  it  down  softly.  "Oh 
look!"  she  cried.     "Look!     It  will  stand  alone!" 

There  it  stood!  Silk  stiff  enough  to  stand  by  itself, 
made  into  a  little  round  waist,  cut  with  a  round  neck 


ISO  LADDIE 

and  sleeves  elbow  length  and  flowing  almost  to  where 
Sally's  knees  would  come.  It  was  a  pale  pearl-gray  silk 
crossed  in  bars  four  inches  square,  made  up  of  a  dim 
yellow  line  almost  as  wide  as  a  wheat  straw,  with  a 
thread  of  black  on  each  side  of  it,  and  all  over,  very  wide 
apart,  were  little  faint  splashes  of  black  as  if  they  had 
been  lightly  painted  on.  The  skirt  was  so  wide  it  almost 
filled  the  room.  Every  inch  of  that  dress  was  lined  with 
soft,  white  silk.  There  was  exquisite  lace  made  into  a 
flat  collar  around  the  neck,  and  ruffled  from  sight  up  the 
inside  of  the  wide  sleeves.  That  was  the  beginning.  The 
finish  was  something  you  never  saw  anything  like  before. 
It  was  a  trimming  made  of  white  and  yellow  beads.  There 
was  a  little  heading  of  white  beads  sewed  into  a  pattern, 
then  a  lacy  fringe  that  was  pale  yellow  beads,  white  in- 
side, each  an  inch  long,  that  dangled,  and  every  bead 
ended  with  three  tiny  white  ones.  That  went  around  the 
neck,  the  outside  of  the  sleeves,  and  in  a  pattern  like  a 
big  letter  V  all  the  way  around  the  skirt.  And  there  it 
stood — alone! 

The  Princess,  graceful  as  a  bird  and  glowing  like  fire, 
danced  around  it,  and  touched  it,  and  lifted  the  sleeves, 
and  made  the  bead  fringe  swing,  and  laughed,  and  talked 
every  second.  Sally,  and  mother,  and  all  of  them  had 
smiled  such  wide  smiles  for  so  long,  their  faces  looked 
almost  as  set  as  Sabethany's,  but  of  course  far  different. 
Being  dead  was  one  thing,  getting  ready  for  a  wedding 
another. 

And  it  looked  too  as  if  God  might  be  a  myth,  for  all 
they  cared,  so  long  as  the  Princess  could  make  the  wedding 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  151 

dress  stand  alone,  and  talk  a  blue  streak  of  things  that 
pleased  them.  It  was  not  put  on  either,  for  there  stood 
the  dress,  shimmering  like  the  inside  of  a  pearl-lined 
shell,  white  as  a  lily,  and  the  tinkly  gold  fringe.  No 
one  could  have  said  enough  about  it,  so  no  matter  what  the 
Princess  said,  it  had  to  be  all  right.  She  kept  straight 
on  showing  all  of  them  how  lovely  it  was,  exactly  as 
if  they  hadn't  seen  it  before,  and  she  had  to  make  them 
understand  about  it,  as  if  she  felt  afraid  they  might  have 
missed  some  elegant  touch  she  had  seen. 

"Do  look  how  the  lace  falls  when  I  raise  this  sleeve! 
Oh  how  will  you  wear  this  and  think  of  a  man  enough  to 
say  the  right  words  in  the  right  place?" 

Mother  laughed,  and  so  did  all  of  them. 

"Do  please  show  me  the  rest,"  begged  the  Princess. 
"I  know  there  are  slippers  and  a  bonnet!" 

Sally  just  oozed  pride.  She  untied  the  strings  and 
pushed  the  prettiest  striped  bag  from  a  lovely  pink  band- 
box and  took  out  a  dear  little  gray  bonnet  with  white  rib- 
bons, and  the  yellow  bead  fringe,  and  a  bunch  of  white 
roses  with  a  few  green  leaves.  These  she  touched  softly, 
"I'm  not  quite  sure  about  the  leaves,"  she  said. 

The  Princess  had  the  bonnet,  turning  and  tilting  it. 

"Perfect!"  she  cried.  "Quite  perfect!  You  need  that 
touch  of  colour,  and  it  blends  with  everything.  Flow 
I  envy  you!  Oh  why  doesn't  some  one  ask  me,  so  I  can 
have  things  like  these?  I  think  your  brother  is  a  genius. 
I'm  going  to  ride  to  Westchester  to-morrow  and  give 
him  an  order  to  fill  for  me  the  next  time  he  goes  to  the 
city.     No  one  shows  me  such  fabrics  when  I  go,  and  Aunt 


152  LADDIE 

Beatrice  sends  nothing  from  London  I  like  nearly  so  well. 
Oh!     Oh!" 

She  was  on  her  knees  now,  lifting  the  skirt  to  set  under 
little  white  satin  slippers  with  gold  buckles,  and  white 
bead  buttons.  When  she  had  them  arranged  to  suit  her, 
she  sat  on  the  floor  and  kept  straight  on  saying  the  things 
my  mother  and  sisters  seemed  crazy  to  hear.  When 
Sally  showed  her  the  long  white  silk  mitts  that  went  with 
the  bonnet,  the  Princess  cried:  "Oh  do  ride  home  with 
me  and  let  me  give  you  a  handkerchief  Aunt  Beatrice 
sent  me,  to  carry  in  your  hand!" 

Then  her  face  flushed  and  she  added  without  giving 
Sally  time  to  say  what  she  would  do:  "Or  I  can  bring  it 
the  next  time  I  come  past.  It  belongs  with  these  things 
and  I  have  no  use  for  it.     May  I?" 

"Please  do!     I'll  use  it  for  the  thing  I  borrow." 

"But  I  mean  it  to  be  a  gift,"  said  the  Princess.  "It 
was  made  to  go  with  these  lace  mitts  and  satin  slippers. 
You  must  take  it!" 

"Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Sally.  "If  you  really 
want  me  to  have  it,  of  course  I'd  love  to." 

"I'll  bring  it  to-morrow,"  promised  the  Princess. 
"And  I  wish  you'd  let  me  try  a  way  I  know  to  dress  hair 
for  a  wedding.     Yours  is  so  beautiful." 

"You're  kind,  I'm  sure,"  said  Sally.  "I  had  intended 
to  wear  it  as  I  always  do,  so  I  would  appear  perfectly 
natural  to  the  folks;  but  if  you  know  a  more  becoming  way, 
I  could  begin  it  now,  and  they  would  be  familiar  with  it 
by  that  time." 

"I  shan't  touch  it,"  said  the  Princess,  studying  Sally's 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  153 

face.  "Your  idea  is  right.  You  don't  want  to  com- 
mence any  new,  unfamiliar  style  that  would  make  you 
seem  different,  just  at  a  time  when  every  one  should  see 
how  lovely  you  are,  as  you  always  have  been.  But 
don't  forget  to  wear  something  blue,  and  something  bor- 
rowed for  luck,  and  oh  do  please  put  on  one  of  mjr 
garters!" 

"Well  for  mercy  sake!"  cried  my  mother.     "Why?" 

"So  some  one  will  propose  to  me  before  the  year  is 
out,"  laughed  the  Princess.  "I  think  it  must  be  the 
most  fun  of  all,  to  make  beautiful  things  for  your  very 
own  home,  and  lovely  dresses,  and  be  surrounded  by 
friends  all  eager  to  help  you,  and  to  arrange  a  house  and 
live  with  a  man  you  love  well  enough  to  marry,  and  fix 
for  little  people  who  might  come " 

"You  know  perfectly  there  isn't  a  single  man  in  the 
county  who  wouldn't  propose  to  you,  if  you'd  let  him  come 
within  a  mile  of  you,"  said  Shelley. 

"When  the  right  man  comes  I'll  go  half  the  mile  to 
meet  him,  you  may  be  sure  of  that;  won't  I,  Mrs.  Stan- 
ton?" the  Princess  turned  to  mother. 

"I  have  known  girls  who  went  even  farther,"  said  my 
mother  rather  dryly. 

"I  draw  the  line  at  half,"  laughed  the  Princess.  "Now 
I  must  go;  I  have  been  so  long  my  people  will  be  wondering 
what  I'm  doing." 

Standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room  she  put  on  her  hat, 
picked  up  her  whip  and  gloves,  and  led  the  way  to  the 
hitching  rack,  while  all  of  us  followed.  At  the  gate  stood 
Laddie  as  he  had  come  from  the  field.     His  old  hat  was 


i54  LADDIE 

on  the  back  of  his  head,  his  face  flushed,  his  collar  loosened 
so  that  his  strong  white  neck  showed,  and  his  sleeves  were 
rolled  to  the  elbow,  as  they  had  been  all  summer,  and  his 
arms  were  burned  almost  to  blisters.  When  he  heard  us 
coming  he  opened  the  gate,  went  to  the  rack,  untied  the 
Princess'  horse  and  led  it  beside  the  mounting  block. 
As  she  came  toward  him,  he  took  off  his  hat  and  pitched 
it  over  the  fence  on  the  grass. 

"Miss  Pryor,  allow  me  to  make  you  acquainted  with 
my  son,"  said  mother. 

I  felt  as  if  I  would  blow  up.  I  couldn't  keep  my  eyes 
from  turning  toward  the  Princess.  Gee!  I  could  have 
saved  my  feelings.  She  made  mother  the  prettiest  little 
courtesy  I  ever  set  eyes  on,  and  then  turned  and  made  a 
deeper  one  to  Laddie. 

"I  met  your  son  in  one  of  the  village  stores  some  time 
ago,"  she  said.     "  Back  her  one  step  farther,  please ! " 

Laddie  backed  the  horse,  and  quicker  than  you  could 
see  how  it  was  done,  she  flashed  up  the  steps  and  sat  the 
saddle;  but  as  she  leaned  over  the  horse's  neck  to  take  the 
rein  from  Laddie,  he  got  one  level  look  straight  in  the 
eyes  that  I  was  sure  none  of  the  others  saw,  because  they 
were  not  watching  for  it,  and  I  was.  Laddie  bowed  from 
the  waist,  and  put  the  reins  in  her  fingers  all  in  one  move- 
ment. He  caught  the  glance  she  gave  him  too;  I  could 
almost  feel  it  like  a  band  passing  between  them.  Then 
she  called  a  laughing  good-bye  to  all  of  us  at  once,  and 
showed  us  how  to  ride  right,  as  she  flashed  toward  the 
Little  Hill.  That  was  riding,  you  may  believe,  and  mother 
sighed  as  she  watched  her. 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  155 

"If  I  were  a  girl  again,"  she  said,  "I  would  ride  as  well 
as  that,  or  I'd  never  mount  a  horse." 

"She's  been  trained  from  her  cradle,  and  her  father 
deals  in  horses.  Half  the  battle  in  riding  is  a  thorough- 
bred," said  Laddie.  "No  such  horse  as  that  ever  stepped 
these  roads  before." 

"And  no  such  girl  ever  travelled  them,"  said  my  mother, 
folding  her  hands  one  over  the  other  on  top  of  a  post  of 
the  hitching  rack.  "I  must  say  I  don't  know  how  this 
is  coming  out,  and  it  troubles  me." 

"Why,  what's  up?"  asked  Laddie,  covering  her  hands 
with  his  and  looking  her  in  the  eyes. 

"Just  this,"  said  my  mother.  "She's  more  beautiful  of 
face  and  form  than  God  ought  to  allow  any  woman  to  be, 
in  mercy  to  the  men  who  will  be  forced  to  meet  her.  Her 
speech  is  highly  cultured.  Her  manners  are  perfect, 
and  that  is  a  big  and  unusual  thing  in  a  girl  of  her  age. 
Every  word  she  said,  every  move  she  made  to-day,  was 
exactly  as  I  would  have  been  proud  to  hear,  and  to  see  a 
daughter  of  mine  speak  and  move.  If  I  had  only  myself 
to  consider,  I  would  make  her  my  friend,  because  I'm 
seasoned  in  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  she  could  influence 
me  only  as  I  chose  to  allow  her.  With  you  youngsters  it 
is  different.  You'll  find  her  captivating,  and  you  may 
let  her  sway  you  without  even  knowing  it.  All  these  out- 
ward things  are  not  essential;  they  are  pleasing,  I  grant, 
but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  one  big,  elemental 
fact  that  a  Godless  life  is  not  even  half  a  life.  I  never 
yet  have  known  any  man  or  woman  who  attempted  it  who 
did  not  waste  life's  grandest  opportunities,  and  then  come 


i 56  LADDIE 

crawling  and  defeated  to  the  foot  of  the  cross  in  the  end, 
asking  God's  mercy  where  none  was  deserved  or  earned. 
It  seems  to  me  a  craven  way.  I  know  all  about  the  for- 
giveness on  the  cross!  I  know  God  is  big  enough  and 
merciful  enough  to  accept  even  death-bed  repentance,  but 
what  is  that  to  compare  with  laying  out  your  course  and 
running  it  a  lifetime  without  swerving?  I  detest  and  dis- 
trust this  infidel  business.  I  want  no  child  of  mine  under 
its  influence,  or  in  contact  with  it." 

"  But  when  your  time  comes,  if  you  said  just  those  things 
to  her,  and  won  her,  what  a  triumph,  little  mother!" 

'"If!"'  answered  mother.  "That's  always  the  trouble! 
One  can't  be  sure!  'If  I  knew  I  could  accomplish  that, 
I  would  get  on  my  knees  and  wrestle  with  the  Lord  for 
the  salvation  of  the  soul  of  a  girl  like  that,  not  to  mention 
her  poor,  housebound  mother,  and  that  man  with  the 
unhappiest  face  I  ever  have  seen,  her  father.  It's  worth 
trying,  but  suppose  I  try  and  fail,  and  at  the  same  time 
find  that  in  bringing  her  among  us  she'  has  influenced 
some  of  mine  to  the  loss  of  their  immortal  souls — then, 
what  will  I  have  done  ? " 

"Mother,"  said  Laddie;  "mother,  have  you  such  a 
poor  opinion  of  the  things  you  and  father  have  taught 
us,  and  the  lives  you've  lived  before  us,  that  you're  really 
afraid  of  a  slip  of  a  girl,  almost  a  stranger?" 

"The  most  attractive  girl  I  ever  have  seen,  and  mighty 
willing  to  be  no  longer  a  stranger,  Lad." 

"Well,  I  can't  promise  for  the  others,"  said  Laddie,  "but 
for  myself  I  will  give  you  my  word  of  honour  that  I  won't  be 
influenced  the  breadth  of  one  hair  by  her,  in  a  doctrinal  way." 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  157 

"Humph!"  said  my  mother.  "And  it  is  for  you  I  fear. 
If  a  young  man  is  given  the  slightest  encouragement  by 
a  girl  like  that,  even  his  God  can't  always  hold  him;  and 
you  never  have  made  a  confession  of  faith,  Laddie.  It 
is  you  she  will  be  most  likely  to  captivate." 

"If  you  think  I  have  any  chance,  I'll  go  straight  over 
and  ask  her  father  for  her  this  very  evening,"  said  Laddie, 
and  even  mother  laughed;  then  all  of  us  started  to  the 
house,  for  it  was  almost  supper  time.  I  got  ready  and 
thought  I'd  take  one  more  peep  at  the  dress  before  Sally 
pinned  it  in  the  sheet  again,  and  when  I  went  back,  there 
all  huddled  in  a  bunch  before  it  stood  Miss  Amelia,  the 
tears  running  down  her  cheeks. 

"Did  Sally  say  you  might  come  here?"  I  asked. 

"No,"  said  Miss  Amelia,  "but  I've  been  so  crazy  to 
see  I  just  slipped  in  to  take  a  peep  when  I  noticed  the 
open  door.     I'll  go  this  minute.     Please  don't  tell  her." 

I  didn't  say  what  I  would  do,  but  I  didn't  intend  to. 

"What  are  you  crying  about?"  I  inquired. 

"Ah,  I  too  have  known  love,"  sobbed  Miss  Amelia. 
"Once  I  made  a  wedding  dress,  and  expected  to  be  a 
happy  bride." 

"Well,  wasn't  you?"  I  asked,  and  knew  at  once  it 
was  a  silly  question,  for  of  course  she  would  not  be  a  miss, 
if  she  had  not  missed  marrying. 

"He  died!"  sobbed  Miss  Amelia. 

If  he  could  have  seen  her  then,  I  believe  he'd  have  been 
glad  of  it;  but  maybe  he  looked  as  bony  and  dejected  as 
she  did  before  he  went;  and  he  may  have  turned  to  stone 
afterward,  as  sometimes  happens.     Right  then  I  heard 


158  LADDIE 

Sally  coming,  so  I  grabbed  Miss  Amelia  and  dragged  her 
under  the  fourposter,  where  I  always  hid  when  caught 
doing  something  I  shouldn't.  But  Sally  had  so  much  stuff 
she  couldn't  keep  all  of  it  on  the  bed,  and  when  she  stooped 
and  lifted  the  ruffle  to  shove  a  box  under,  she  pushed  it 
right  against  us,  and  knelt  to  look,  and  there  we  were. 

"Well  upon  my  soul!"  she  cried,  and  sat  flat  on  the 
floor,  holding  the  ruffle,  peering  in.  "Miss  Amelia!  And 
in  tears !     Whatever  is  the  trouble  ? " 

Miss  Amelia's  face  was  redder  than  any  crying  ever 
made  it,  and  I  saw  she  wanted  to  kill  me  for  getting  her 
into  such  a  fix,  and  if  she  became  too  angry  probably  she'd 
take  it  out  on  me  in  school  the  next  day,  so  I  thought  I'd 
better  keep  her  at  work  shedding  tears. 

'"He  died!'"  I  told  Sally  as  pathetically  as  ever  I 
could. 

Sally  dropped  the  ruffle  instantly,  but  I  saw  her  knees 
shake  against  the  floor.  After  a  while  she  lifted  the  cur- 
tain and  offered  Miss  Amelia  her  hand. 

"I  was  leaving  my  dress  to  show  you  before  putting 
it  away,"  she  said. 

I  didn't  believe  it;  but  that  was  what  she  said.  Maybe 
it  was  an  impulse.  Mother  always  said  Sally  was  a  crea- 
ture of  impulse.  When  she  took  off  her  flannel  petticoat 
and  gave  it  to  poor  little  half-frozen  Annie  Hasty,  that 
was  a  good  impulse,  but  it  sent  Sally  to  bed  for  a  week. 
And  when  she  threw  a  shovel  of  coals  on  Bill  Ramsdell's 
dog,  because  Bill  was  a  shiftless  lout,  and  the  dog  was  so 
starved  it  all  the  time  came  over  and  sucked  our  eggs, 
that  was  a  bad  impulse,  because  it  didn't  do  Bill  a  particle 


THE  WEDDING  GOWN  159 

of  good,  and  it  hurt  the  dog,  which  would  have  been  glad 
to  suck  eggs  at  home,  no  doubt,  if  Bill  hadn't  been  too 
worthless  to  keep  hens. 

That  was  a  good  impulse  she  had  then,  for  she  asked 
Miss  Amelia  to  help  her  straighten  the  room,  and  of  course 
that  meant  to  fold  and  put  away  weddings  things.  Any 
woman  would  have  been  wild  to  do  that.  Then  she 
told  Miss  A.melia  that  she  was  going  to  ask  father  to 
dismiss  school  for  half  a  day,  and  allow  her  to  see  the  wed- 
ding, and  she  asked  her  if  she  would  help  serve  the  break- 
fast. Miss  Amelia  wiped  her  eyes,  and  soon  laughed  and 
was  just  beaming.  I  would  have  been  willing  to  bet  my 
three  cents  for  lead  pencils  the  next  time  the  huckster 
came,  that  Sally  never  thought  of  wanting  her  until  that 
minute;  and  then  she  arranged  for  her  to  wait  on  table  to 
keep  her  from  trying  to  eat  with  the  wedding  party,  be- 
cause Miss  Amelia  had  no  pretty  clothes  for  one  thing,  and 
for  another,  you  shouldn't  act  as  if  you  were  hungry  out 
in  company,  and  she  ate  every  meal  as  if  she  were  breaking 
a  forty  days'  fast.  I  wondered  what  her  folks  cooked  at 
home. 

After  supper  Peter  came,  and  the  instant  I  saw  him 
I  thought  of  something,  and  it  was  such  a  teasing  thought 
I  followed  around  and  watched  him  harder  every  minute. 
At  last  he  noticed  me,  and  put  his  arms  around  me. 

"Well,  what  is  it,  Little  Sister?"  he  asked. 

I  did  wish  he  would  quit  that.  No  one  really  had  a 
right  to  call  me  that,  except  Laddie.  Maybe  I  had  to 
put  up  with  Peter  doing  it  when  I  was  his  sister  by  law, 
but  before,  the  old  name  the  preacher  baptized  on  me  was 


160  LADDIE 

good  enough  for  Peter.  I  was  thinking  about  that  so  hard, 
I  didn't  answer,  and  he  asked  again. 

"I  have  seen  Sally's  wedding  dress,"  I  told  him. 

"But  that's  no  reason  why  you  should  stare  at  me." 

"That's  just  exactly  the  reason,"  I  answered.  "I  was 
trying  to  see  what  in  the  world  there  is  about  you  to  be 
worth  a  dress  like  that." 

Peter  laughed  and  laughed.  At  last  he  said  that  he  was 
not  really  worth  even  a  calico  dress;  and  he  was  so  little 
worthy  of  Sally  that  he  would  button  her  shoes,  if  she 
would  let  him.  He  got  that  mixed.  The  buttons  were 
on  her  slippers:  her  shoes  laced.  But  it  showed  a  humble 
spirit  in  Peter.  Not  that  I  care  for  humble  spirits.  I 
am  sure  the  Crusaders  didn't  have  them.  I  don't  believe 
Laddie  would  lace  even  the  Princess'  shoes,  at  least  not 
to  make  a  steady  business  of  it.  But  maybe  Peter  and 
Sally  had  an  agreement  to  help  each  other.  She  was 
always  fixing  his  tie,  and  straightening  his  hair.  Maybe 
that  was  an  impulse,  though,  and  mother  said  Saljy 
would  get  over  being  so  impulsive  when  she  cut  her  eye 
teeth. 


CHAPTER  VII 
When  Sally  Married  Peter 

'Mid  pleasures  and  palaces  though  we  may  roam, 
Be  it  ever  so  humble  there's  no  place  like  home! 
A  charm  from  the  skies  seems  to  hallow  us  there, 
Which,  seek  through  the  world,  is  ne'er  met  with  elsewhere." 

HEN  they  began  arranging  the  house  for  the 
wedding,  it  could  be  seen  that  they  had  been  ex- 
pecting it,  and  getting  ready  for  a  long  time. 
From  all  the  closets,  shelves  and  chests  poured  heaps  of 
new  things.  First,  the  walls  were  cleaned  and  some  of 
them  freshly  papered,  then  the  windows  were  all  washed 
long  before  regular  housecleaning  time,  the  floors  were 
scrubbed  and  new  carpet  put  down.  Mother  had  some 
window  blinds  that  Winfield  had  brought  her  from  New 
York  in  the  spring,  and  she  had  laid  them  away;  no  one 
knew  why,  then.  We  all  knew  now.  When  mother  was 
ready  to  put  them  up,  father  had  a  busy  day  and  couldn't 
help  her,  and  she  was  really  provoked.  She  almost  cried 
about  it,  when  Leon  rode  in  bringing  the  mail,  and  said 
Hannah  Dover  had  some  exactly  like  ours  at  her  windows, 
that  her  son  had  sent  from  Illinois.  Father  felt  badly 
enough  then,  for  he  always  did  everything  he  could  to  help 
mother  to  be  first  with  everything;  but  so  she  wouldn't 
blame  him,  he  said  crosslike  that  if  she  had  let  him  put 

161 


162  LADDIE 

them  up  when  they  came,  as  he  wanted  to,  she'd  have 
been  six  months  ahead. 

When  they  finally  got  ready  to  hang  the  blinds  no  one 
knew  how  they  went.  They  were  a  beautiful  shiny  green, 
plain  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  there  was  a  silver  bor- 
der across  the  bottom  and  one  pink  rose  as  big  as  a  pie 
plate.  Mother  had  neglected  to  ask  Winfield  on  which 
side  the  rose  belonged.  Father  said  from  the  way  the  roll 
ran,  it  went  inside.  Mother  said  they  were  rolled  that 
way  to  protect  the  roses,  and  that  didn't  prove  anything. 
Laddie  said  he  would  jump  on  a  horse  and  ride  round  the 
section,  and  see  how  Hannah  Dover  had  hers,  and  exactly 
opposite  would  be  right.  Every  one  laughed,  but  no  one 
thought  he  meant  it.  Mother  had  father  hold  one  against 
the  window,  and  she  stepped  outside  to  see  if  she  could 
tell  from  there.  When  she  came  in  she  said  the  flower 
looked  mighty  pretty,  and  she  guessed  that  was  the  way, 
so  father  started  hanging  them.  He  had  only  two  up 
when  Laddie  came  racing  down  the  Big  Hill  bareback, 
calling  for  him  to  stop. 

"I  tell  you  that's  not  right,  mother!"  he  said  as  he 
hurried  in. 

"But  I  went  outside  and  father  held  one,  and  it  looked 
real  pretty,"  said  mother. 

"One!  Yes!"  said  Laddie.  "But  have  you  stopped 
to  consider  how  two  rows  across  the  house  are  going  to 
look?  Nine  big  pink  roses,  with  the  sun  shining  on  them! 
Anything  funnier  than  Dovers'  front  I  never  saw.  And 
look  here!" 

Laddie  picked  up  a  blind.     "See  this  plain  back?     It's 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER       163 

double  coated  like  a  glaze.  That  is  so  the  sun  shining 
through  glass  won't  fade  it.  The  flowers  would  be  gone 
in  a  week.     They  belong  inside,  mother,  sure  as  you  live." 

"Then  when  the  blinds  are  rolled  to  the  middle  sash  in 
the  daytime  no  one  can  see  them,"  wailed  mother,  who 
was  wild  about  pink  roses. 

"But  at  night,  when  they  are  down,  you  can  put  the 
curtains  back  enough  to  let  the  roses  show,  and  think  how 
pretty  they  will  look  then." 

"Laddie  is  right!"  said  father,  climbing  on  the  barrel 
to  take  down  the  ones  he  had  fixed. 

"What  do  you  think,  girls?"  asked  mother. 

"I  think  the  Princess  is  coming  down  the  Little  Hill," 
said  Shelley.  "Hurry,  father!  Take  them  down  before 
she  sees!     I'm  sure  they're  wrong." 

Father  got  one' all  right,  but  tore  the  corner  of  the  other. 
Mother  scolded  him  dreadfully  cross,  and  he  was  so 
flustered  he  forgot  about  being  on  the  barrel,  so  he  stepped 
back  the  same  as  on  the  floor,  and  fell  crashing.  He 
might  have  broken  some  of  his  bones,  if  Laddie  hadn't 
seen  and  caught  him. 

"If  you  are  sure  the  flowers  go  inside,  fix  one  before  she 
comes!"  cried  mother. 

Father  stepped  too  close  the  edge  of  the  chair,  and  by 
that  time  he  didn't  know  how  to  hang  anything,  so  Laddie 
climbed  up  and  had  one  nailed  before  the  Princess  stopped. 
She  came  to  bring  Sally  the  handkerchief,  and  it  was  the 
loveliest  one  any  of  us  ever  had  seen.  There  was  a  little 
patch  in  the  middle  about  four  inches  square,  and  around 
it  a  wide  ruffle  of  dainty  lace.     It  was  made  to  carry  in  a 


164  LADDIE 

hand  covered  with  white  lace  mitts,  when  you  were  wear- 
ing a  wedding  gown  of  silver  silk,  lined  with  white.  Of 
course  it  wouldn't  have  been  the  slightest  use  for  a 
funeral  or  with  a  cold  in  your  head.  And  it  had  come 
from  across  the  sea!  From  the  minute  she  took  it  by 
a  pinch  in  the  middle,  Sally  carried  her  head  so  much 
higher  than  she  ever  had  before,  that  you  could  notice 
the  difference. 

Laddie  went  straight  on  nailing  up  the  blinds,  and  every 
one  he  fixed  he  let  down  full  length  so  the  Princess  could 
see  the  roses  were  inside;  he  was  so  sure  he  was  right. 
After  she  had  talked  a  few  minutes  she  noticed  the  blinds 
going  up.  Laddie,  in  a  front  window,  waved  to  her 
from  the  barrel.  She  laughed  and  answered  with  her 
whip,  and  then  she  laughed  again. 

"Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "there  is  the  funniest  thing 
at  Dovers'.  I  rode  past  on  the  way  to  Groveville  this 
morning  and  they  have  some  blinds  like  those  you  are 
putting  up." 

"Indeed?"  inquired  my  mother.  "Winfield  sent  us 
these  from  New  York  in  the  spring,  but  I  thought  the  hot 
summer  sun  would  fade  them,  so  I  saved  them  until  fall 
cleaning.  The  wedding  coming  on  makes  us  a  little  early, 
but " 

"Well,  they  may  not  be  exactly  the  same,"  said  the 
Princess.  "I  only  saw  from  the  highway."  She  meant 
road;  there  were  many  things  she  said  differently.  "Have 
yours  big  pink  roses  and  silver  scrolls  inside?" 

"Yes,"  said  mother. 

The  Princess  bubbled  until  it  made  you  think  one  of 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         165 

those  yellow  oriole  birds  had  perched  on  her  saddle. 
"That  poor  woman  has  gone  and  put  hers  up  wrong  side 
out.  The  effect  of  all  those  big  pink  roses  on  her  white 
house  front  is  most  amusing.  It  looks  as  if  the  house  were 
covered  with  a  particularly  gaudy  piece  of  comfort  calico. 
Only  fancy  !" 

She  laughed  again  and  rode  away.  Mother  came  in 
just  gasping. 

"Well,  for  all  His  mercies,  large  and  small,  the  Lord  be 
praised!"  she  cried  piously,  as  she  dropped  into  the  big 
rocking  chair.  "  That  is  what  I  consider  escaping  by  the 
skin  of  your  teeth!" 

Then  father  and  Laddie  laughed,  and  said  they  thought 
so  too.  When  the  blinds  were  up,  the  outside  looked 
well,  and  you  should  have  seen  the  inside!  The  wood- 
work was  enamelled  white,  and  the  wall  paper  was  striped 
in  white  and  silver.  Every  so  far  on  the  silver  there  was 
a  little  pink  moss  rose  having  green  leaves.  The  carpet 
was  plum  red  and  green  in  wide  stripes,  and  the  lace 
curtains  were  freshly  washed,  snowy,  and  touched  the 
floor.  The  big  rocker,  the  straight-backed  chairs,  and 
the  sofa  were  beautiful  red  mahogany  wood,  and  the 
seats  shining  haircloth.  If  no  one  happened  to  be  look- 
ing, you  could  sit  on  a  sofa  arm,  stick  your  feet  out  and 
shoot  off  like  riding  down  a  haystack;  the  landing  was 
much  better.  On  the  sofa  you  bounced  two  feet  high 
the  first  time;  one,  the  second;  and  a  little  way  the  third. 
On  the  haystack,  maybe  you  hit  a  soft  spot,  and  maybe 
you  struck  a  rock.  Sometimes  if  you  got  smart,  and  tried 
a  new  place,  and  your  feet  caught  in  a  tangle  of  weeds  and 


166  LADDIE 

stuck,  you  came  up  straight,  pitched  over,  and  landed  on 
your  head.  Then  if  you  struck  a  rock,  you  were  still,  quite  a 
while.  I  was  once.  But  you  never  dared  let  mother  see  you 
— on  the  sofa,  I  mean;  she  didn't  care  about  the  haystack. 

There  were  pictures  in  oval  black  frames  having  fancy 
edges,  and  a  whatnot  where  all  our  Christmas  and  birth- 
day gifts,  almost  too  dainty  to  handle,  were  kept.  You 
fairly  held  your  breath  when  you  looked  at  the  nest  of 
spun  green  glass,  with  the  white  dove  in  it,  that  George 
Washington  Mitchell  gave  to  Shelley.  Of  course  a  dove's 
nest  was  never  deep,  and  round,  and  green,  and  the  bird 
didn't  have  red  eyes  and  a  black  bill.  I  thought  who- 
ever could  blow  glass  as  beautifully  as  that,  might  just 
as  easy  have  made  it  right  while  he  was  at  it;  but  anyway, 
it  was  pretty.  There  were  pitchers,  mugs,  and  vases, 
almost  too  delicate  to  touch,  and  the  cloth-covered  box 
with  braids  of  hair  coiled  in  wreathes  from  the  heads  of 
the  little  fever  and  whooping  cough  sisters. 

Laddie  asked  Sally  if  she  and  Peter  were  going  to  have 
the  ceremony  performed  while  they  sat  on  the  sofa. 
Seemed  the  right  place.  They  had  done  all  their  courting 
there,  even  on  hot  summer  days;  but  I  supposed  that  was 
because  Sally  didn't  want  to  be  seen  fixing  Peter's  tie 
until  she  was  ready.  She  made  no  bones  about  it  then. 
She  fixed  it  whenever  she  pleased;  likewise  he  held  her 
hand.  Shelley  said  that  was  disgusting,  and  you  wouldn't 
catch  her.  Leon  said  he  bet  a  dollar  he  would;  and  I 
said  if  he  knew  he'd  get  beaten  as  I  did,  I  bet  two  dollars 
he  wouldn't  tell  what  he  saw.  The  mantel  was  white, 
with  vases  of  the  lovely  grasses  that  grew  beside  the 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         167 

stream  at  the  foot  of  the  Big  Hill.  Mother  gathered  the 
fanciest  every  fall,  dried  them,  and  dipped  them  in  melted 
alum  coloured  with  copperas,  aniline,  and  indigo.  Then 
she  took  bunches  of  the  colours  that  went  together  best 
and  made  bouquets  for  the  big  vases.  They  were  pretty 
in  the  daytime,  but  at  night  you  could  watch  them  sparkle 
and  shimmer  forever. 

I  always  thought  the  sitting-room  was  nicer  than  the 
parlour.  The  woodwork  was  white  enamel  there  too, 
but  the  bureau  and  chairs  were  just  cherry  and  not  too 
precious  to  use.  They  were  every  bit  as  pretty.  The 
mantel  was  much  larger.  I  could  stand  up  in  the  fire- 
place, and  it  took  two  men  to  put  on  an  everyday  log, 
four  the  Christmas  one.  On  each  side  were  the  book 
shelves  above,  and  the  linen  closets  below.  The  mantel 
set  between  these,  and  mother  always  used  the  biggest, 
most  gorgeous  bouquets  there,  because  she  had  so  much 
room.  The  hearth  was  a  slab  of  stone  that  came  far  into 
the  room.  We  could  sit  on  it  and  crack  nuts,  roast  apples, 
chestnuts,  and  warm  our  cider,  then  sweep  all  the  muss  we 
made  into  the  fire.  The  wall  paper  was  white  and  pale 
pink  in  stripes,  and  on  the  pink  were  little  handled  baskets 
filled  with  tiny  flowers  of  different  colours.  We  sewed 
the  rags  for  the  carpet  ourselves,  and  it  was  the  prettiest 
thing.  One  stripe  was  wide,  all  gray,  brown,  and  dull 
colours,  and  the  other  was  pink.  There  were  green  blinds 
and  lace  curtains  here  also,  and  nice  braided  rugs  that  all 
of  us  worked  on  of  winter  evenings.  Everything  got 
spicker  and  spanner  each  day. 

Mother  said  there  was  no  use  in  putting  down  a  car- 


168  LADDIE 

pet  in  a  dining-room  where  you  constantly  fed  a  host,  and 
the  boys  didn't  clean  their  feet  as  carefully  as  they  should 
in  winter;  but  there  were  useful  rugs  where  they  belonged, 
and  in  our  bedroom  opening  from  it  also.  The  dining- 
room  wall  paper  had  a  broad  stripe  of  rich  cream  with  pink 
cabbage  roses  scattered  over  it  and  a  narrow  pink  stripe,, 
while  the  woodwork  was  something  perfectly  marvellous. 
I  didn't  know  what  kind  of  wood  it  was,  but  a  man  who 
could  turn  his  hand  to  anything,  painted  it.  First,  he  put 
on  a  pale  yellow  coat  and  let  it  dry.  Then  he  added  wood 
brown,  and  while  it  was  wet,  with  a  coarse  toothed  comb, 
a  rag,  and  his  fingers,  he  imitated  the  grain,  the  even 
wood,  and  knotholes  of  dressed  lumber,  until  many  a 
time  I  found  myself  staring  steadily  at  a  knot  to  see  if  a 
worm  wouldn't  really  come  working  out.  You  have  to 
see  a  thing  like  that  to  understand  how  wonderful  it  is. 
You  couldn't  see  why  they  washed  the  bedding,  and 
took  the  feathers  from  the  pillows  and  steamed  them  in 
mosquito  netting  bags  and  dried  them  in  the  shade,  when 
Sally's  was  to  be  a  morning  wedding,  but  they  did.  I 
even  had  to  take  a  bucket  and  gather  from  around  the 
walls  all  the  little  heaps  of  rocks  and  shells  that  Uncle 
Abraham  had  sent  mother  from  California,  take  them  out 
and  wash  and  wipe  them,  and  stack  them  back,  with  the 
fanciest  ones  on  top.  He  sent  her  a  ring  made  of  gold  he 
dug  himself.  She  always  kept  the  ring  in  a  bottle  in  her 
bureau,  and  she  meant  to  wear  it  at  the  wedding,  with  hei 
new  silk  dress.  I  had  a  new  dress  too.  I  don't  know  how 
they  got  everything  done.  All  of  them  worked,  until  the 
last  few  days  they  were  perfect  cross  patches. 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         169 

When  they  couldn't  find  another  thing  indoors  to  scour, 
they  began  on  the  yard,  orchard,  barn  and  road.  Mother 
even  had  Leon  stack  the  wood  pile  straighter.  She  said 
when  corded  wood  leaned  at  an  angle,  it  made  people 
seem  shiftless;  and  she  never  passed  a  place  where  it  looked 
that  way  that  her  fingers  didn't  just  itch  to  get  at  it.  He 
had  to  pull  every  ragweed  on  each  side  of  the  road  as  far 
as  our  land  reached,  and  lay  every  rail  straight  in  the 
fences.  Father  had  to  take  spikes  and  our  biggest  maul 
and  go  to  the  bridges  at  the  foot  of  the  Big  and  the  Little 
Hill,  and  see  that  every  plank  was  fast,  so  none  of  them 
would  rattle  when  important  guests  drove  across.  She 
said  she  just  simply  wouldn't  have  them  in  such  a  condi- 
tion that  Judge  Pettis  couldn'*  hear  himself  think  when 
he  crossed;  for  you  could  tell  from  his  looks  that  it  was 
very  important  that  none  of  the  things  he  thought  should 
be  lost.  There  wasn't  a  single  spot  about  the  place  inside 
or  out  that  wasn't  gone  over;  and  to  lots  of  it  you  never 
would  have  known  anything  had  been  done  if  you  hadn't 
seen,  because  the  place  was  always  in  proper  shape  any- 
way; but  father  said  mother  acted  just  like  that,  even 
when  her  sons  were  married  at  other  people's  houses;  and 
if  she  kept  on  getting  worse,  every  girl  she  married  ofF,  by 
the  time  she  reached  me,  we'd  all  be  scoured  threadbare 
and  she'd  be  on  the  verge  of  the  grave.  May  and  I 
weeded  the  flowerbeds,  picked  all  the  ripe  seed,  and  pulled 
up  and  burned  all  the  stalks  that  were  done  blooming. 
Father  and  Laddie  went  over  the  garden  carefully;  they 
scraped  the  walks  and  even  shook  the  palings  to  see  if  one 
were  going  to  come  loose  right  at  the  last  minute,  when 


170  LADDIE 

every  one  would  be  so  flustrated  there  would  be  no  time 
to  fix  it. 

Then  they  began  to  talk  about  arrangements  for  the 
ceremony,  whether  we  should  have  our  regular  minister, 
or  Presiding  Elder  Lemon,  and  what  people  they  were 
going  to  invite.  Just  when  we  had  planned  to  ask  every 
one,  have  the  wedding  in  the  church,  and  the  breakfast 
at  the  house,  and  all  drive  in  a  joyous  procession  to  Grove- 
ville  to  give  them  a  good  send-off,  in  walked  Sally.  She 
had  been  visiting  Peter's  people,  and  we  planned  a  lot 
while  she  was  away. 

"What's  going  on  here?"  she  asked,  standing  in  the 
doorway,  dangling  her  bonnet  by  the  ties. 

She  never  looked  prettier.  Her  hair  had  blown  out  in 
little  curls  around  her  face  from  riding,  her  cheeks  were  so 
pink,  and  her  eyes  so  bright. 

"We  were  talking  about  having  the  ceremony  in  the 
church,  so  every  one  can  be  comfortably  seated,  and  see 
and  hear  well,"  answered  mother. 

Sally  straightened  up  and  began  jerking  the  roses  on  her 
bonnet  far  too  roughly  for  artificial  flowers.  Perhaps  I 
surprised  you  with  that  artificial  word,  but  I  can  spell  and 
define  it;  it's  easy  divided  into  syllables.  Goodness  knows, 
I  have  seen  enough  flowers  made  from  the  hair  of  the  dead, 
wax,  and  paper,  where  you  get  the  shape,  but  the  colour 
never  is  right.  These  of  Sally's  were  much  too  bright, 
but  they  were  better  than  the  ones  made  at  our  house. 
Hers  were  of  cloth  and  bought  at  a  store.  You  couldn't 
tell  why,  but  Sally  jerked  her  roses;  I  wished  she  wouldn't, 
because  I  very  well  knew  they  would  be  used  to  trim  my 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         171 

hat  the  next  summer,  and  she  said:  "Well,  people  don't 
have  to  be  comfortable  during  a  wedding  ceremony;  they 
can  stand  up  if  I  can,  and  as  for  seeing  and  hearing,  I'm 
asking  a  good  many  that  I  don't  intend  to  have  see  or 
hear  either  one!" 

"My  soul!"  cried  mother,  and  she  dropped  her  hands 
and  her  mouth  fell  open,  like  she  always  told  us  we  never 
should  let  ours,  while  she  stared  at  Sally. 

"I  don't  care!"  said  Sally,  straightening  taller  yet;  her 
eyes  began  to  shine  and  her  lips  to  quiver,  as  if  she  would 
cry  in  a  minute;  "I  don't  care !" 

"Which  means,  my  child,  that  you  do  care,  very  much," 
said  father.  "Suppose  you  cease  such  reckless  talk,  and 
explain  to  us  exactly  what  it  is  that  you  do  want." 

Sally  gave  her  bonnet  an  awful  jerk.  Those  roses 
would  look  like  sin  before  my  turn  to  wear  them  came,  and 
she  said:  "Well  then,  I  do  care!  I  care  with  all  my 
might!  The  church  is  all  right,  of  course;  but  I  want  to  be 
married  in  my  very  own  home!  Every  one  can  think 
whatever  they  please  about  their  home,  and  so  can  I,  and 
what  I  think  is,  that  this  is  the  nicest  and  the  prettiest 
place  in  all  the  world,  and  I  belong  here " 

Father  lifted  his  head,  his  face  began  to  shine,  and  his 
eyes  to  grow  teary;  while  mother  started  toward  Sally. 
She  put  out  her  hand  and  held  mother  from  her  at  arm's 
length,  and  she  turned  and  looked  behind  her  through 
the  sitting-room  and  parlour,  and  then  at  us,  and  she 
talked  so  fast  you  never  could  have  understood  what  she 
said  if  you  hadn't  known  all  of  it  anyway,  and  thought 
exactly  the  same  thing  yourself. 


172  LADDIE 

"I  have  just  loved  this  house  ever  since  it  was  built," 
she  said,  "and  I've  had  as  good  times  here  as  any  girl  ever 
had.  If  any  one  thinks  I'm  so  very  anxious  to  leave  it, 
and  you,  and  mother,  and  all  the  others,  why  it's  a  big 
mistake.  Seems  as  if  a  girl  is  expected  to  marry  and  go 
to  a  home  of  her  own;  it's  drummed  into  her  and  things 
fixed  for  her  from  the  day  of  her  birth;  and  of  course  I  do 
like  Peter,  but  no  home  in  the  world,  not  even  the  one  he 
provides  for  me,  will  ever  be  any  dearer  to  me  than  my 
own  home;  and  as  I've  always  lived  in  it,  I  want  to  be 
married  in  it,  and  I  want  to  stay  here  until  the  very  last 
second " 

"You  shall,  my  child,  you  shall!"  sobbed  mother. 

"And  as  for  having  a  crowd  of  men  that  father  is  plan- 
ning to  ask,  staring  at  me,  because  he  changes  harvest 
help  and  wood  chopping  with  them,  or  being  criticised  and 
clawed  over  by  some  women  simply  because  they'll  be 
angry  if  they  don't  get  the  chance,  I  just  won't — so  there! 
Not  if  I  have  to  stand  the  minister  against  the  wall,  and 
turn  our  backs  to  every  one.     I  think " 

"That  will  do!"  said  father,  wiping  his  eyes.  "That 
will  do,  Sally!  Your  mother  and  I  have  got  a  pretty 
clear  understanding  of  how  you  feel,  now.  Don't  excite 
yourself!  Your  wedding  shan't  be  used  to  pay  off  our 
scores.  You  may  ask  exactly  whom  you  please,  want, 
and  feel  quite  comfortable  to  have  around  you " 

Then  Sally  fell  on  mother's  neck  and  every  one  cried 
a  while;  then  we  wiped  up,  Leon  gave  Sally  his  slate,  and 
she  came  and  sat  beside  the  table  and  began  to  make 
out  a  list  of  those  she  really  wanted  to  invite.     First  she 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         173 

put  down  all  of  our  family,  even  many  away  in  Ohio,  and 
all  of  Peter's,  and  then  his  friends,  and  hers.  Once  in  the 
list  of  girls  she  stopped  and  said:  "If  I  take  that  beau- 
tiful imported  handkerchief  from  Pamela  Pryor,  I  have 
just  got  to  invite  her " 

"And  she  will  outdress  and  outshine  you  at  your  own 
wedding,"  put  in  Shelley. 

"Let  her,  if  she  can!"  said  Sally  calmly.  "She'll  have 
to  hump  herself  if  she  beats  that  dress  of  mine;  and  as  for 
looks,  I  know  lots  of  people  who  think  gray  eyes,  pink 
cheeks,  and  brown  curls  far  daintier  and  prettier  than  red 
cheeks  and  black  eyes  and  curls.  If  she  really  is  better 
looking  than  I  am,  it  isn't  her  fault;  God  made  her  that 
way,  and  He  wouldn't  like  us  to  punish  her  for  it;  and 
it  would,  because  any  one  can  see  she  wants  to  be  friends; 
don't  you  think,  mother?" — mother  nodded — "and  be- 
sides, I  think  she's  better  looking  than  I  am,  myself! " 

Sally  said  that,  and  wrote  down  the  Princess'  name  in 
big  letters,  and  no  one  cheeped. 

Then  she  began  on  our  neighbourhood,  thinking  out 
loud  and  writing  what  she  thought.  So  all  of  us  were  as 
still,  and  held  our  breath  in  softly  and  waited,  and  Sally 
said  slow  and  musing  like,  "Of  course  we  couldn't  have 
anything  at  this  house  without  Sarah  Hood.  She  dressed 
most  of  us  when  we  were  born,  nursed  us  when  we  were 
sick,  helped  with  threshing,  company,  and  parties,  and 
she's  just  splendid  anyway;  we  better  ask  all  the  Hoods"; 
so  she  wrote  them  down.  "And  it  will  be  lonely  for 
Widow  Willis  and  the  girls  to  see  every  one  else  here — we 
must  have  them;  and  of  course  Deams — Amanda  is  al- 


174  LADDIE 

ways  such  splendid  help;  and  the  Widow  Fall  is  so  per- 
fectly lovely,  we  want  her  for  decorative  purposes;  and 
we  could  scarcely  leave  out  Shaws;  they  always  have  all  of 
us  everything  they  do;  and  Dr.  Fenner's  of  course;  and 
we'll  want  Flo  and  Agnes  Kuntz  to  wait  on  table,  so  their 
folks  might  as  well  come  too " 

So  she  went  on  taking  up  each  family  we  knew,  and 
telling  what  they  had  done  for  us,  or  what  we  had  done 
for  them;  and  she  found  some  good  reason  for  inviting 
them,  and  pretty  soon  father  settled  back  in  his  chair 
and  never  took  his  eyes  from  Sally's  shining  head  as  she 
bent  over  the  slate,  and  then  he  began  pulling  his  lower 
lip,  like  when  it  won't  behave,  and  his  eyes  danced  exactly 
as  I've  seen  Leon's.     I  never  had  noticed  that  before. 

Sally  went  straight  on  and  at  last  she  came  to  Freshetts. 
"I  am  going  to  have  all  of  them,  too,"  she  said.  "The 
children  are  good  children,  and  it  will  help  them  along  to 
see  how  things  are  done  when  they  are  right;  and  I  don't 
care  what  any  one  says,  I  like  Mrs.  Freshett.  I'll  ask 
her  to  help  work,  and  that  will  keep  her  from  talking,  and 
give  the  other  women  a  chance  to  see  that  she's  clean,  and 
human,  and  would  be  a  good  neighbour  if  they'd  be 
friendly.     If  we  ask  her,  then  the  others  will." 

When  she  finished — as  you  live — there  wasn't  a  soul 
she  had  left  out  except  Bill  Ramsdell,  who  starved  his 
dog  until  it  sucked  our  eggs,  and  Isaac  Thomas,  who  was 
so  lazy  he  wouldn't  work  enough  to  keep  his  wife  and 
children  dressed  so  they  ever  could  go  anywhere,  but  he 
always  went,  even  with  rags  ftying,  and  got  his  stomach 
full  just  by  talking  about  how  he  loved  the  Lord.     To  save 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         175 

me  I  couldn't  see  Isaac  Thomas  without  beginning  to 
myself: 

"'Tis  the  voice  of  the  sluggard;  I  hear  him  complain, 
You  have  waked  me  too  soon,  I  must  slumber  again. 
I  passed  by  his  garden,  I  saw  the  wild  brier, 
The  thorn,  and  the  thistle,  grow  broader  and  higher; 
The  clothes  that  hang  on  him  are  turning  to  rags; 
And  his  money  he  wastes,  till  he  starves  or  he  begs." 

That  described  Isaac  to  the  last  tatter,  only  he  couldn't 
ivaste  money;  he  never  had  any.  Once  I  asked  father 
vvhat  he  thought  Isaac  would  do  with  it,  if  by  some  un- 
foreseen working  of  Divine  Providence,  he  got  ten  dollars. 
Father  said  he  could  tell  me  exactly,  because  Isaac  once 
sold  some  timber  and  had  a  hundred  all  at  once.  He 
went  straight  to  town  and  bought  Mandy  a  red  silk  dress 
and  a  brass  breastpin,  when  she  had  no  shoes.  He  got 
the  children  an  organ,  when  they  were  hungry;  and  him- 
self a  plug  hat.  Mandy  and  the  children  cried  because 
he  forgot  candy  and  oranges  until  the  last  cent  was  gone. 
Father  said  the  only  time  Isaac  ever  worked  since  he 
knew  him  was  when  he  saw  how  the  hat  looked  with  his 
rags.  He  actually  helped  the  men  fell  the  trees  until  he 
got  enough  to  buy  a  suit,  the  remains  of  which  he  still 
wore  on  Sunday.  I  asked  father  why  he  didn't  wear  the 
hat  too,  and  father  said  the  loss  of  that  hat  was  a  blow, 
from  which  Isaac  never  had  recovered.  Once  at  camp- 
meeting  he  laid  it  aside  to  pray  his  longest,  most  impres- 
sive prayer,  and  an  affectionate  cow  strayed  up  and  licked 
the  nap  all  off  before  Isaac  finished,  so  he  never  could  wear 
it  again. 


176  LADDIE 

Sally  said:  "I'll  be  switched  if  I'll  have  that  disgust- 
ing creature  around  stuffing  himself  on  my  wedding  day; 
but  if  you're  not  in  bed,  when  it's  all  over,  mother,  I  do 
wish  you'd  send  Mandy  and  the  children  a  basket." 

Mother  promised,  and  father  sat  and  looked  on  and 
pulled  his  lower  lip  until  his  ears  almost  wiggled.  Then 
Sally  said  she  wanted  Laddie  and  Shelley  to  stand  at  the 
parlour  door  and  keep  it  tight  shut,  and  seat  every  one  in 
the  sitting-room  except  a  special  list  she  had  made  out 
to  send  in  there.  She  wanted  all  our  family  and  Peter's, 
and  only  a  few  very  close  friends,  but  it  was  enough  to  fill 
the  room.  She  said  when  she  and  Peter  came  downstairs 
every  one  could  see  how  they  looked  when  they  crossed 
the  sitting-room,  and  for  all  the  difference  the  door  would 
make,  it  could  be  left  open  then;  she  would  be  walled  in 
by  people  she  wanted  around  her,  and  the  others  could 
have  the  fun  of  being  there,  seeing  what  they  could,  and 
getting  all  they  wanted  to  eat.  Father  and  mother  said 
that  was  all  right,  only  to  say  nothing  about  the  plan  to 
shut  the  door;  but  when  the  time  came  just  to  close  it 
and  everything  would  be  satisfactory. 

Then  Sally  took  the  slate  upstairs  to  copy  the  list  with 
ink,  so  every  one  went  about  something,  while  mother 
crossed  to  father  and  he  took  her  on  his  lap,  and  they 
looked  at  each  other  the  longest  and  the  hardest,  and 
neither  of  them  said  a  word.  After  a  while  they  cried 
and  laughed,  and  cried  some  more,  and  it  was  about  as 
sensible  as  what  a  flock  of  geese  say  when  they  are  let  out 
of  the  barn  and  start  for  the  meadow  in  the  morning. 
Then  father,  all  laughy  and  criey,  said:  "Thank  God! 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         177 

Oh,  thank  God,  the  girl  loves  the  home  we  have  made 
for  her!" 

Just  said  it  over  and  over,  and  mother  kept  putting  in: 
"It  pays,  Paul!     It  pays!" 

Next  day  Sally  put  on  her  riding  habit  and  fixed  herself 
as  pretty  as  ever  she  could,  and  went  around  to  have  a 
last  little  visit  with  every  one,  and  invited  them  herself, 
and  then  she  wrote  letters  to  people  away.  Elizabeth 
and  Lucy  came  home,  and  every  one  began  to  work. 
Father  and  mother  went  to  the  village  in  the  carriage 
and  brought  home  the  bed  full  of  things  to  eat,  and  all 
we  had  was  added,  and  mother  began  to  pack  butter, 
and  save  eggs  for  cakes,  and  the  day  before,  I  thought 
there  wouldn't  be  a  chicken  left  on  the  place.  They 
killed  and  killed,  and  Sarah  Hood,  Amanda  Deam,  and 
Mrs.  Freshett  picked  and  picked. 

"I'll  bet  a  dollar  we  get  something  this  time  besides 
ribs  and  neck,"  said  Leon.  "How  do  you  suppose  thigh 
and  breast  would  taste?" 

"I  was  always  crazy  to  try  the  tail,"  I  said. 

"Much  chance  you  got,"  sniggered  Leon.  "'Member 
the  time  that  father  asked  the  Presiding  Elder,  'Brother 
Lemon,  what  piece  of  the  fowl  do  you  prefer?'  and  he  up 
and  said:  'I'm  partial  to  the  rump,  Brother  Stanton.' 
There  sat  father  bound  he  wouldn't  give  him  mother's 
piece,  so  he  pretended  he  couldn't  find  it,  and  forked  all 
over  the  platter  and  then  gave  him  the  ribs  and  the  thigh. 
Gee,  how  mother  scolded  him  after  the  preacher  had  gone! 
You  notice  father  hasn't  asked  that  since.  Now,  he  al- 
ways says:  'Do  you  prefer  light  or  dark  meat?'     Much 


178  LADDIE 

chance  you  have  of  ever  tasting  a  tail,  if  father  won't  even 
give  one  to  the  Presiding  Elder!" 

"But  as  many  as  they  are  killing " 

"Oh  this  time,"  said  Leon  with  a  flourish,  "this  time 
we  are  going  to  have  livers,  and  breast,  and  thighs,  and 
tails,  if  you  are  beholden  to  tail." 

"I'd  like  to  know  how  we  are?" 

"Well,  since  you  have  proved  that  you  can  keep  your 
mouth  shut,  for  a  little  while,  anyway,  I'm  going  to  take 
you  in  on  this,"  said  Leon.  "You  keep  your  eyes  on  me. 
When  the  wedding  gets  going  good,  you  watch  me,  and 
slip  out.  That's  all!  I'll  be  fixed  to  do  the  rest.  But 
mind  this,  get  out  when  I  do." 

"All  right,"  I  promised. 

They  must  have  wakened  about  four  o'clock  on  the 
wedding  day;  it  wasn't  really  light  when  I  got  up.  I  had 
some  breakfast  in  my  night  dress,  and  then  I  was  all 
fixed  up  in  my  new  clothes,  and  made  to  sit  on  a  chair,  and 
never  move  for  fear  I  would  soil  my  dress,  for  no  one  had 
time  to  do  me  over,  and  there  was  only  one  dress  anyway. 
There  was  so  much  to  see  you  could  keep  interested  just 
watching,  and  I  was  as  anxious  to  look  nice  before  the 
boys  and  girls,  and  the  big  people,  as  any  one. 

Every  mantel  and  table  and  bureau  was  covered  with 
flowers,  and  you  could  have  smelled  the  kitchen  a  mile 
away,  I  know.  The  dining  table  was  set  for  the  wedding 
party,  our  father  and  mother,  and  Peter's,  and  the  others 
had  to  wait.  You  couldn't  have  laid  the  flat  of  your  hand 
on  that  table  anywhere,  it  was  so  covered  with  things  to 
eat.     Miss  Amelia,  in  a  dress  none  of  us  ever  had  seen 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         179 

before,  a  real  nice  white  dress,  pranced  around  it  and 
smirked  at  every  one,  and  waved  the  peacock  feather 
brush  to  keep  the  flies  from  the  jelly,  preserves,  jam, 
butter,  and  things  that  were  not  cooked. 

For  hours  Mrs.  Freshen  had  stood  in  the  kitchen  on 
one  side  of  the  stove  frying  chicken  and  heaping  it  in 
baking  pans  in  the  oven,  and  Amanda  Deam  on  the  other, 
frying  ham,  while  Sarah  Hood  cooked  other  things,  and 
made  a  wash  boiler  of  coffee.  Everything  was  ready  by 
the  time  it  should  have  been.  I  had  watched  them  until 
I  was  tired,  when  Sally  came  through  the  room  where  I 
was,  and  she  said  I  might  come  along  upstairs  and  see  her 
dressed.  When  we  reached  the  door  I  wondered  where 
she  would  put  me,  but  she  pushed  clothing  together  on  a 
bed,  and  helped  me  up,  and  that  was  great  fun. 

She  had  been  bathed  and  had  on  her  beautiful  new 
linen  underclothing  that  mother  punched  full  of  holes  and 
embroidered  in  flowers  and  vines,  and  Shelley  was  brush- 
ing her  hair,  when  some  one  called  out:  "The  Princess 
is  coming!" 

I  jumped  for  the  window,  and  all  of  them,  even  Sally, 
crowded  behind.  Well,  talk  about  carriages!  No  one 
ever  had  seen  that  one  before.  It  was  a  carriage.  And 
such  horses!  The  funny  "'orse,  'ouse"  man  who  made 
the  Pryor  garden  was  driving.  He  stopped  at  the  gate, 
got  out  and  opened  a  door,  and  the  Princess'  father 
stepped  down,  tall  and  straight,  all  in  shiny  black.  He 
turned  around  and  held  out  his  hand,  bowing  double,  and 
the  Princess  laid  her  hand  in  his  and  stepped  out  too.  He 
walked  with  her  to  the  gate,  made  another  bow,  kissed 


180  LADDIE 

her  hand,  and  stepped  back,  and  she  came  down  the  walk 
alone.  He  got  in  the  carriage,  the  man  closed  the  door, 
and  they  drove  away. 

Sally  must  have  arranged  before  that  the  Princess  was 
to  come  early,  for  she  came  straight  upstairs.  She  wore 
a  soft  white  silk  dress  with  big  faded  pink  roses  in  it,  and 
her  hair  was  fastened  at  each  ear  with  a  bunch  of  little 
pink  roses.  She  was  lovely,  but  she  didn't  "outdress  or 
outshine"  Sally  one  bit,  and  she  never  even  glanced  at  the 
mirror  to  see  how  she  looked;  she  began  helping  with 
Sally's  hair,  and  to  dress  her.  When  Bess  Kuntz  prinked 
so  long  she  made  every  one  disgusted,  the  Princess  said: 
"Oh  save  your  trouble.  No  one  will  look  at  you  when 
there's  a  bride  in  the  house." 

There  was  a  roll  almost  as  thick  as  your  arm  of  garters 
that  all  the  other  girls  wanted  Sally  to  wear  for  them  so 
they  would  get  a  chance  to  marry  that  year,  and  Agnes 
Kuntz's  was  so  large  it  went  twice  around,  and  they  just 
laughed  about  it.  They  put  a  blue  ribbon  on  Sally's  stays 
for  luck,  and  she  borrowed  Peter's  sister  Mary's  comb  to 
hold  her  back  hair.  They  had  the  most  fun,  and  when 
she  was  all  ready  except  her  dress  they  went  away,  and 
Sally  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room  trembling  a  little. 
Outside  you  could  hear  carriage  wheels  rolling,  the  beat  of 
horses'  hoofs,  and  voices  crying  greetings.  "There  was 
a  sound  of  revelry,"  by  day.  Mother  came  in  hurriedly. 
She  wore  her  new  brown  silk,  with  a  lace  collar  pinned  at 
the  throat  with  the  pin  that  had  a  brown  goldstone  setting 
in  it,  and  her  precious  ring  was  on  her  finger.  She  was 
dainty  and  pretty  enough  to  have  been  a  bride  herself. 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         181 

She  turned  Sally  around  slowly,  touching  her  hair  a  little 
and  her  skirts;  then  she  went  to  the  closet,  took  out 
the  wedding  dress,  put  the  skirt  over  Sally's  head,  and 
she  came  up  through  the  whiteness,  pink  and  glowing. 
She  slipped  her  arms  into  the  sleeves,  and  mother  fastened 
it,  shook  out  the  skirt,  saw  that  the  bead  fringe  hung 
right,  and  the  lace  collar  lay  flat,  then  she  took  Sally  in 
her  arms,  held  her  tight  and  said:  "God  bless  you,  dear, 
and  keep  you  always.     Amen." 

Then  she  stepped  to  the  door,  and  Peter,  all  shining  and 
new,  came  in.  He  hugged  Sally  and  kissed  her  like  it 
didn't  make  the  least  difference  whether  she  had  on  calico 
or  a  wedding  dress,  and  he  just  stared,  and  stared  at  her, 
and  never  said  a  word,  so  at  last  she  asked:  "Well  Peter, 
do  you  like  my  dress?" 

And  the  idiot  said:  "Why  Sally,  I  hadn't  even  seen  it!" 

Then  both  of  them  laughed,  and  the  Presiding  Elder 
came. 

I  never  liked  to  look  at  him  very  well  because  some- 
thing had  happened,  and  he  had  only  one  eye.  I  al- 
ways wondered  if  he  had  "plucked  it  out"  because  it  had 
"offended"  him;  but  if  you  could  forget  his  eye,  and  just 
listen  to  his  voice,  it  was  like  the  sweetest  music.  He 
married  those  two  people  right  there  in  the  bedroom,  all 
but  about  three  words  at  the  end.  I  heard  and  saw  every 
bit  of  it.  Then  Sally  said  it  was  time  for  me  to  go  to 
mother,  but  she  followed  me  into  the  boys'  room  and  shut 
the  door.  Then  she  knelt  in  her  beautiful  silver  dress,  and 
put  her  arms  around  me  and  said:  "Honest,  Little  Sister, 
aren't  you  going  to  kiss  me  good-bye?" 


1 82  LADDIE 

"Oh  I  can  if  you  want  me  to,"  I  said,  but  I  didn't 
look  at  her;  I  looked  out  of  the  window. 

She  laughed  a  breathless  little  catchy  sort  of  laugh  and 
said:  "That's  exactly  what  I  do  want." 

"  You  didn't  even  want  me,  to  begin  with,"  I  reminded  her. 

"There  isn't  a  doubt  but  whoever  told  you  that,  could 
have  been  in  better  business,"  said  Sally,  angry-like.  "I 
was  much  younger  then,  and  there  were  many  things  I 
didn't  understand,  and  it  wasn't  you  I  didn't  want;  it  was 
just  no  baby  at  all.  I  wouldn't  have  wanted  a  boy,  or  any 
other  girl  a  bit  more.  I  foolishly  thought  we  had  children 
enough  in  this  house.  I  see  now  very  plainly  that  we 
didn't,  for  this  family  never  could  get  along  without  you, 
and  I'm  sorry  I  ever  thought  so,  and  I'd  give  anything  if 
I  hadn't  struck  you  and " 

"Oh  be  still,  and  go  on  and  get  married!"  I  said.  I 
could  just  feel  a  regular  beller  coming  in  my  throat.  "I 
was  only  fooling  to  pay  you  up.  I  meant  all  the  time  to 
kiss  you  good-bye  when  the  others  did.  I'll  nearly  die 
being  lonesome  when  you're  gone " 

Then  I  ran  for  downstairs,  and  when  I  reached  the  door, 
where  the  steps  went  into  the  sitting-room,  I  stopped, 
scared  at  all  the  people.  It  was  like  camp-meeting. 
You  could  see  the  yard  full  through  the  windows.  Just 
as  I  was  thinking  I'd  go  back  to  the  boys'  room,  and  from 
there  into  the  garret,  and  down  the  back  stairway,  Laddie 
went  and  saw  me.  He  came  over,  led  me  to  the  parlour 
door,  put  me  inside,  and  there  mother  took  my  hand  and 
held  me  tight,  and  I  couldn't  see  Leon  anywhere. 

I  was  caught,  but  they  didn't  have  him.     Mother  never 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         183 

hung  on  as  she  did  that  day.  I  tried  and  tried  to  pull 
away,  and  she  held  tight.  It  was  only  a  minute  until  the 
door  opened,  people  crowded  back,  and  the  Presiding 
Elder,  followed  by  Sally  and  Peter,  came  into  the  room, 
and  they  began  being  married  all  over  again. 

If  it  hadn't  grown  so  solemn  my  mother  sprung  a  tear, 
I  never  would  have  made  itc  She  just  had  to  let  me  go  to 
sop  her  face,  because  tears  are  salty,  and  they  would  turn 
her  new  brown  silk  front  yellow.  The  minute  my  hand 
was  free,  I  slipped  between  the  people  and  looked  at  the 
parlour  door.  It  was  wedged  full  and  more  standing  on 
chairs  behind  them.  No  one  could  get  out  there.  I 
thought  I  would  fail  Leon  sure,  and  then  I  remembered 
the  parlour  bedroom.  I  got  through  that  door  easy  as 
anything,  and  it  was  no  trick  at  all  to  slip  behind  the  blind, 
raise  the  window,  and  drop  into  mother's  room  from  the 
sill.  From  there  I  reached  the  back  dining-room  door 
easy  enough,  went  around  to  the  kitchen,  and  called  Leon 
softly.  He  opened  the  door  at  once  and  I  slipped  in. 
He  had  just  got  there.  We  looked  all  around  and  couldn't 
see  where  to  begin  at  first.  There  was  enough  cooked 
food  there  to  load  two  wagons. 

An  old  pillow-case  that  had  dried  sage  in  it  was  lying 
across  a  chair  and  Leon  picked  it  up  and  poured  the  sage 
into  the  woodbox,  and  handed  the  case  to  me.  He  went 
over  and  knelt  before  the  oven,  while  I  followed  and  held 
open  the  case.  Leon  rolled  his  eyes  to  the  ceiling  and  said 
so  exactly  like  father  when  he  is  serving  company  that 
not  one  of  us  could  have  told  the  difference:  "Which 
part  of  the  fowl  do  you  prefer,  Brother  Lemon?" 


1 84  LADDIE 

It  was  so  funny  it  made  me  snigger,  but  I  straightened 
up  and  answered  as  well  as  I  could:  "I'm  especially  fond 
of  the  rump,  Brother  Stanton." 

Leon  stirred  the  heap  and  piled  four  or  five  tails  in  the 
case.  I  thought  that  was  all  I  could  manage  before  they 
would  spoil,  so  I  said:  'Do  you  prefer  light  or  dark  meat, 
Sister  Abigail?" 

"I  wish  to  choose  breast,"  said  Leon;  simpering  just 
like  that  silly  Abigail  Webster.  He  put  in  six  breasts. 
Then  we  found  them  hidden  away  back  in  the  oven  in  a 
pie  pan,  for  the  bride's  table,  I  bet,  and  we  took  two  livers 
apiece;  we  didn't  dare  take  more  for  fear  they  had  been 
counted.  Then  he  threw  in  whatever  he  came  to  that 
was  a  first  choice  big  piece,  until  I  was  really  scared,  and 
begged  him  to  stop;  but  he  repeated  what  the  fox  said  in 
the  story  of  the  "Quarrelsome  Cocks" — "Poco  was  very 
good,  but  I  have  not  had  enough  yet,"  so  he  piled  in 
pieces  until  I  ran  away  with  the  pillow-case;  then  he  slid 
in  a  whole  plateful  of  bread,  another  of  cake,  and  put  the 
plates  in  a  tub  of  dishes  under  the  table.  Then  we  took 
some  of  everything  that  wasn't  too  runny.  Just  then  the 
silence  broke  in  the  front  part  of  the  house,  and  we  scooted 
from  the  back  door,  closing  it  behind  us,  ran  to  the  wood 
house  and  climbed  the  ladder  to  the  loft  over  the  front 
part.  There  we  were  safe  as  could  be,  we  could  see  to  the 
road,  hear  almost  everything  said  in  the  kitchen,  and  "eat 
our  bites  in  peace,"  like  Peter  Justice  told  the  Presiding 
Elder  at  the  church  trial  that  he  wanted  his  wife  to,  the 
time  he  slapped  her.  Before  very  long,  they  began  calling 
■us,  and  called,  and  called.     We  hadn't  an  idea  what  they 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         185 

wanted,  so  we  ate  away.  We  heard  them  first  while  I 
was  holding  over  a  back  to  let  Leon  taste  kidney,  and  it 
made  him  blink  when  he  got  it  good. 

"Well  my  soul!"  he  said.  "No  wonder  father  didn't 
want  to  feed  that  to  another  man  when  mother  isn't  very 
well,  and  likes  it!     No  wonder!" 

Then  he  gave  me  a  big  bite  of  breast.  It  was  sort  of  dry 
and  tasteless;  I  didn't  like  it. 

"Why,  I  think  neck  or  back  beats  that  all  to  pieces!" 
I  said  in  surprise. 

"Fact  is,  they  do!"  said  Leon.  "I  guess  the  people 
who  'wish  to  choose  breast,'  do  it  to  get  the  biggest  piece." 

I  never  had  thought  of  it  before,  but  of  course  that 
would  be  the  reason. 

"Allow  me,  Sister  Stanton,"  said  Leon,  holding  out  a 
piece  of  thigh. 

That  was  really  chicken!  Then  we  went  over  the  backs 
and  picked  out  all  the  kidneys,  and  ate  the  little  crusty 
places,  and  all  the  cake  we  could  swallow;  then  Leon 
fixed  up  the  bag  the  best  he  could,  and  set  it  inside  an  old 
cracked  churn  and  put  on  the  lid.  He  said  that  would  do 
almost  as  well  as  the  cellar,  and  the  food  would  keep  until 
to-morrow.  I  wanted  to  slip  down  and  put  it  in  the 
Underground  Station;  but  Leon  said  father  must  be  spend- 
ing a  lot  of  money  right  now,  and  he  might  go  there  to 
get  some,  so  that  wouldn't  be  safe.  Then  he  cleaned 
my  face,  and  I  told  him  when  he  got  his  right,  and  we 
slipped  from  the  back  door,  crossed  the  Lawton  black- 
berry patch,  and  went  to  the  house  from  the  orchard. 
Leon  took  an  apple  and  broke  it  in  two,  and  we  went  in 


1 86  LADDIE 

eating  as  if  we  were  starving,  When  father  asked  us 
where  in  this  world  we  had  been,  Leon  told  him  we  thought 
it  would  be  so  awful  long  before  the  fourth  or  fifth  table, 
and  we  hadn't  had  much  breakfast,  and  we  were  so  hungry 
we  went  and  hunted  something  to  eat. 

"If  you'd  only  held  your  horses  a  minute,"  said  father; 
"they  were  calling  you  to  take  places  at  the  bride's  table.'' 

Well  for  land's  sake!  Our  mouths  dropped  open  until 
it's  a  wonder  the  cake  and  chicken  didn't  show,  and  we 
never  said  a  word.  There  didn't  seem  to  be  anything  to 
say,  for  Leon  loved  to  be  with  grown  folks,  and  to  have 
eaten  at  the  bride's  table  would  have  been  the  biggest 
thing  that  ever  happened  to  me.  At  last,  when  I  could 
speak,  I  asked  who  had  taken  our  places,  and  bless  your 
heart  if  it  wasn't  that  mealy-faced  little  sister  of  Peter's, 
and  one  of  the  aunts  from  Ohio.  They  had  finished,  and 
Sally  was  upstairs  putting  on  her  travelling  dress,  while 
the  guests  were  eating,  when  I  heard  Laddie  ask  the 
Princess  to  ride  with  him  and  Sally's  other  friends,  who 
were  going  to  escort  her  to  the  depot. 

"You'll  want  all  your  horses.     What  could  I  ride?" 

"If  I  find  you  a  good  horse  and  saddle  will  you  go?" 

"I  will.     I  think  it  would  be  fine  sport." 

Laddie  turned  and  went  from  sight  that  minute.  The 
Princess  laughed  and  kept  on  making  friends  with  every 
one,  helping  wait  on  people,  thinking  of  nice  things  to 
do,  and  just  as  the  carriage  was  at  the  gate  for  father 
and  mother,  and  Sally  and  Peter,  and  every  one  else  was 
untying  their  horses  to  ride  in  the  procession  to  the  vil- 
lage, from  where  I  was  standing  on  the  mounting  block 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         187 

I  saw  something  coming  down  the  Little  Hill.  I  took  one 
look,  ran  to  the  Princess,  and  almost  dragged  her. 

Up  raced  Laddie,  his  face  bright,  his  eyes  snapping  with 
fun.  He  rode  Flos,  was  leading  the  Princess'  horse  Maud, 
and  carrying  a  big  bundle  under  his  arm.  He  leaped 
from  the  saddle  and  fastened  both  horses. 

" Gracious  Heaven !  What  have  you  done  ? "  gasped  the 
Princess. 

"Brought  your  mount,"  said  Laddie,  quite  as  if  he 
were  used  to  going  to  Pryors'  after  the  sausage  grinder  or 
the  grain  sacks.  But  the  Princess  was  pale  and  trembling. 
She  stepped  so  close  she  touched  him,  and  he  immediately 
got  a  little  closer.  You  couldn't  get  ahead  of  Laddie,  and 
he  didn't  seem  to  care  who  saw,  and  neither  did  she. 

"Tell  me  exactly  what  occurred,"  she  said,  just  as 
father  does  when  he  means  to  whale  us  completely. 

"I  rapped  at  the  front  door,"  said  Laddie. 

"And  who  opened  it?"  cried  the  Princess. 

"Your  father!" 

"My  father?" 

"Yes,  your  father!"  said  Laddie.  "And  because  I  was 
in  such  a  hurry,  I  didn't  wait  for  him  to  speak.  I  said: 
'Good  morning,  Mr.  P^or.  I'm  one  of  the  Stanton 
boys,  and  I  came  for  Miss  Pryor's  mount  and  habit.  All 
the  young  people  who  are  on  horseback  are  going  to  ride 
an  escort  to  the  village,  around  my  sister's  bridal  carriage, 
and  Miss  Pryor  thinks  she  would  enjoy  going.  Please 
excuse  such  haste,  but  we  only  this  minute  made  the  plan, 
and  the  train  won't  wait." 

"And  he?" 


i8S  LADDIE 

"He  said:  'Surely!  Hold  one  minute.'  I  stood  on 
the  step  and  waited,  and  I  could  hear  him  give  the  order 
to  some  one  to  get  your  riding  habit  quickly,  and  then  he 
blew  a  shrill  whistle,  and  your  horse  was  at  the  gate  the 
fastest  of  anything  I  ever  saw." 

"  Did  he  do  or  say " 

"Nothing  about  'clods,  and  clowns,  and  grossness!' 
Every  other  word  he  spoke  was  when  I  said,  'Thank  you, 
and  good  morning,'  and  was  turning  away.  He  asked: 
'Did  Miss  Pryor  say  whether  she  preferred  to  ride  home, 
or  shall  I  escort  her  in  the  carriage?'" 

"'She  did  not,'  I  answered.  'The  plan  was  so  sudden 
she  had  no  time  to  think  that  far.  But  since  she  wiJ.) 
have  her  horse  and  habit,  why  not  allow  my  father  to 
escort  her?'  So  you  see,  I'm  going  to  take  you  home," 
exulted  Laddie. 

"But  you  told  him  your  father,"  said  the  Princess. 

"And  thereby  created  the  urgent  necessity,"  said 
Laddie  with  a  flourish,  "for  speaking  to  him  again,  and 
telling  him  that  my  father  had  visitors  from  Ohio,  and 
couldn't  leave  them.  We  will  get  all  the  fun  from  the 
day  that  we  can;  but  before  dusk,  too  early  for  them  to 
have  any  cause  for  cavil,  'the  gross  country  clod'  is  going 
to  take  you  home ! " 

One  at  a  time,  Laddie  pounded  those  last  words  into 
the  hitching  post,  with  his  doubled  fist. 

"Suppose  he  sets  the  dogs  on  you!  You  know  he  keeps 
two  dreadful  ones." 

Laddie  just  roared.     He  leaned  closer. 

"j3eaucheous  Lady,"  he  said,  "I  have  fed  those  same 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         189 

dogs  and  rubbed  their  ears  so  many  nights  lately,  he'll  get 
the  surprise  of  his  life  if  he  tries  that." 

The  Princess  drew  away  and  stared  at  Laddie  the  fun- 
niest. 

"On  my  life!"  she  said  at  last.  "Well  for  a  country 
clod—!" 

Then  she  turned  with  the  habit  bundle,  and  ran  into 
the  house.  Father  and  mother  came  from  the  front  door 
arm  in  arm  and  walked  to  the  carriage,  and  Sally  and 
Peter  followed.  My,  but  they  looked  fine!  The  Princess 
had  gone  to  the  garden  and  gathered  flowers  and  lined  all 
the  children  in  rows  down  each  side  of  the  walk.  They 
were  loaded  with  blooms  to  throw  at  Sally;  but  when  she 
came  out,  in  her  beautiful  gray  poplin  travelling  dress, 
trimmed  in  brown  ribbon,  the  same  shade  as  her  curls,  her 
face  all  pink,  her  eyes  shining,  and  the  ties  of  her  little 
brown  bonnet  waving  to  her  waist,  she  was  so  perfectly 
beautiful,  every  single  child  watched  her  open  mouthed, 
gripped  its  flowers,  and  forgot  to  throw  them  at  all. 

And  this  you  scarcely  will  believe  after  what  she  had 
said  the  day  she  made  her  list,  and  when  all  of  us  knew 
her  heart  was  all  torn  up,  Sail}?"  just  swept  along  smiling 
at  every  one  and  calling  "good-bye"  to  those  who  had  no 
way  to  ride  to  the  village,  as  if  leaving  didn't  amount  to 
much.  At  the  carriage,  a  little  white,  but  still  smiling, 
she  turned  and  took  one  long  look  at  everything,  and  then 
she  got  in  and  called  for  me,  right  out  loud  before  every 
one,  so  I  got  to  hold  up  my  head  as  high  as  it  would  go, 
and  step  in  too,  and  ride  all  the  way  to  Groveville  between 
her  and  Peter,  and  instead  of  holding  his  hand,  she  held 


190  LADDIE 

mine,  just  gripped  it  tight.  She  gripped  so  hard  she 
squeezed  all  the  soreness  at  her  from  my  heart,  and  when 
she  kissed  me  good-bye  the  very  last  of  all,  I  whispered  in 
her  ear  that  I  wouldn't  ever  be  angry  any  more,  and  I 
wasn't,  because  after  she  had  explained  I  saw  how  it  had 
been.  It  wasn't  me  she  didn't  want;  it  was  just  no  baby. 
After  our  carriage  came  Peter's  people,  then  one  father 
borrowed  for  the  Ohio  relatives,  then  the  other  children, 
and  all  the  neighbours  followed,  and  when  we  reached 
the  high  hill  where  you  turn  beside  the  woods,  I  saw  father 
gather  up  the  lines  and  brace  himself,  for  Ned  and  Jo 
were  what  he  called  "mettlesome."  "Then  came  a  burst 
of  thunder  sound,"  as  it  says  in  "Casabianca,"  and  the 
horseback  riders  came  sweeping  around  us,  Laddie  and 
the  Princess  leading.  These  two  rode  ahead  of  us,  and 
the  others  lined  three  deep  on  either  side,  and  the  next 
carriage  dropped  back  and  let  them  close  in  behind,  so 
Sally  and  Peter  were  "in  the  midst  thereof."  Instead  of 
throwing  old  shoes,  as  always  had  been  done,  the  Princess 
coaxed  them  to  throw  rice  and  roses,  and  every  other 
flower  pulled  from  the  bouquets  at  home,  and  from  the 
gardens  we  had  passed.  Every  one  was  out  watching  us 
go  by,  and  when  William  Justus  rode  beside  the  fences 
crying,  "Flowers  for  the  bride!  Give  us  flowers  for  the 
bride!"  some  of  the  women  were  so  excited  they  pulled 
things  up  by  the  roots  and  gave  him  armloads,  and  he  rode 
ahead  and  supplied  Laddie  and  the  Princess,  and  they 
kept  scattering  them  in  the  road  until  every  foot  of  the 
way  to  Groveville  was  covered  with  flowers,  "the  fair 
young  flowers  that  lately  sprang  and  stood."     He  even 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         191 

made  side-cuts  into  swampy  places  and  gathered  arm- 
loads of  those  perfectly  lovely,  fringy  blue  gentians, 
caught  up,  and  filled  the  carriage  and  scattered  them  in 
a  wicked  way,  because  you  should  only  take  a  few  of 
those  rare,  late  flowers  that  only  grow  from  seed. 

Sally  looked  just  as  if  she  had  come  into  her  own  and 
was  made  for  it;  I  never  did  see  her  look  so  pretty,  but 
Peter  sweated  and  acted  awful  silly.  Father  had  a  time 
with  the  team.  Ned  and  Jo  became  excited  and  just 
ranted.  They  simply  danced.  Laddie  had  braided  their 
manes  and  tails,  and  they  waved  like  silken  floss  in 
the  sunshine,  and  the  carriage  was  freshly  washed  and 
the  patent  leather  and  brass  shone,  and  we  rode  flower- 
covered.  Ahead,  Laddie  and  the  Princess  fairly  tried 
themselves.  She  hadn't  put  on  her  hat  or  habit  after  all. 
When  Laddie  told  her  they  were  going  to  lead,  she  said: 
"Very  well!  Then  I  shall  go  as  I  am.  The  dress  makes 
no  difference.  It's  the  first  time  I've  had  a  chance  to 
spoil  one  since  I  left  England." 

When  the  other  girls  saw  what  she  was  going  to  do, 
nearly  every  one  of  them  left  off  their  hats  and  riding 
skirts.  Every  family  had  saddle  horses  those  da)^s,  and 
when  the  riders  came  racing  up  they  looked  like  flying 
flowers,  they  were  all  laughing,  bloom  ladened,  singing 
and  calling  jokes.  Ahead,  Laddie  and  the  Princess  just 
plain  showed  off.  Her  horse  came  from  England  with 
them,  and  Laddie  said  it  had  Arab  blood  in  it,  like  the  one 
in  the  Fourth  Reader  poem,  "Fret  not  to  roam  the  desert 
now,  With  all  thy  winged  speed,"  and  the  Princess  loved 
her  horse  more  than  that  man  did  his.     She  said  she'd 


192  LADDIE 

starve  before  she'd  sell  it,  and  if  her  family  were  starv- 
ing, she'd  go  to  work  and  earn  food  for  them,  and  keep 
her  horse.  Laddie's  was  a  Kentucky  thoroughbred  he'd 
saved  money  for  years  to  buy;  and  he  took  a  young  one 
and  trained  it  himself,  almost  like  a  circus  horse.  Both 
of  them  could  ride;  so  that  day  they  did.  They  ran  those 
horses  neck  and  neck,  right  up  the  hill  approaching  Grove- 
ville,  until  they  Were  almost  from  sight,  then  they  whirled 
and  came  sweeping  back  fast  as  the  wind.  The  Princess' 
eyes  were  like  dead  coals,  and  her  black  curls  streamed, 
the  thin  silk  dress  wrapped  tight  around  her  and  waved 
back  like  a  gossamer  web  such  as  spiders  spin  in  October. 
Laddie's  hair  was  blowing,  his  cheeks  and  eyes  were  bright, 
and  with  one  eye  on  the  Princess— she  didn't  need  it — 
and  one  on  the  road,  he  cut  curves,  turned,  wheeled,  and 
raced,  and  as  he  rode,  so  did  she. 

"Will  they  break  their  foolish  necks?"  wailed  mother. 

"They  are  the  handsomest  couple  I  ever  have  seen  in 
my  life!"  said  father. 

"Yes,  and  you  two  watch  out,  or  you'll  strike  trouble 
right  there,"  said  Sally,  leaning  forward. 

I  gave  her  an  awful  nudge.  It  made  me  so  happy 
I  could  have  screamed  to  see  them  flying  away  together 
like  that. 

"Well,  if  that  girl  represents  trouble,"  said  father, 
"God  knows  it  never  before  came  in  such  charming 
guise." 

"You  can  trust  a  man  to  forget  his  God  amd  his  im- 
mortal soul  if  a  sufficiently  beautiful  woman  comes  along," 
said  my  mother  dryly,  and  all  of  them  laughed. 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER  193 

She  didn't  mean  that  to  be  funny,  though.  You  could 
always  tell  by  the  set  of  her  lips  and  the  light  in  her  eyes. 

Just  this  side  Groveville  we  passed  a  man  on  horseback. 
He  took  off  his  hat  and  drew  his  horse  to  one  side  when 
Laddie  and  the  Princess  rode  toward  him.  He  had  a  big 
roll  of  papers  under  his  arm,  to  show  that  he  had  been  for 
his  mail.  But  I  knew,  so  did  Laddie  and  the  Princess, 
that  he  had  been  compelled  to  saddle  and  ride  like  mad, 
to  reach  town  and  come  that  far  back  in  time  to  watch  us 
pass;  for  it  was  the  Princess'  father,  and  watch  was  ex- 
actly what  he  was  doing;  he  wanted  to  see  for  himself. 
Laddie  and  the  Princess  rode  straight  at  him,  neck  and 
neck,  and  then  both  of  them  made  their  horses  drop  on 
their  knees  and  they  waved  a  salute,  and  then  they  were 
up  and  away.  Of  course  father  and  mother  saw,  so 
mother  bowed,  and  father  waved  his  whip  as  we  passed. 
He  sat  there  like  he'd  turned  the  same  on  horseback 
as  Sabethany  had  in  her  coffin;  but  he  had  to  see  almost 
a  mile  of  us  driving  our  best  horses  and  carriages,  wearing 
our  wedding  garments  and  fine  raiment,  and  all  that 
"cavalcade,"  father  called  it,  of  young,  reckless  riders. 
You'd  have  thought  if  there  were  a  hint  of  a  smile  in  his 
whole  being  it  would  have  shown  when  Sally  leaned  from 
the  carriage  to  let  him  see  that  her  face  and  clothes  were 
as  good  as  need  be  and  smiled  a  lovely  smile  on  him,  and 
threw  him  a  rose.  He  did  leave  his  hat  off  and  bow  low, 
and  then  Shelley,  always  the  very  dickens  for  daring,  rode 
right  up  to  him  and  laughed  in  his  face,  and  she  leaned  and 
thrust  a  flower  into  his  bony  hands;  you  would  have 
thought  he  would  have  been  simply  forced  to  smile  then, 


194  LADDIE 

but  he  looked  far  more  as  if  he  would  tumble  over  and  roll 
from  the  saddle.  My  heart  ached  for  a  man  in  trouble 
like  that.  I  asked  the  Lord  to  preserve  us  from  secrets 
we  couldn't  tell  the  neighbours! 

At  the  station  there  wasn't  a  thing  those  young  people 
didn't  do.  They  tied  flowers  and  ribbons  all  over  Sally's 
satchel  and  trunk.  They  sowed  rice  as  if  it  were  seeding 
time  in  a  wheatfield.  They  formed  a  circle  around  Sally 
and  Peter  and  as  mushy  as  ever  they  could  they  sang, 
"As  sure  as  the  grass  grows  around  the  stump,  You  are 
my  darling  sugar  lump,"  while  they  danced.  They  just 
smiled  all  the  time  no  matter  what  was  done  to  them. 
Some  of  it  made  me  angry,  but  I  suppose  to  be  pleasant 
was  the  right  way.  Sally  was  strong  on  always  doing 
the  right  thing,  so  she  just  laughed,  and  so  did  all  of  us. 
Going  home  it  was  wilder  yet,  for  all  of  them  raced  and 
showed  how  they  could  ride. 

At  the  house  people  were  hungry  again,  so  the  table  was 
set  and  they  ate  up  every  scrap  in  sight,  and  Leon  and  I 
ate  with  them  that  time  and  saved  ours.  Then  one  by 
one  the  carriages,  spring  wagons,  and  horseback  riders 
went  away,  all  the  people  saying  Sally  was  the  loveliest 
bride,  and  hers  had  been  the  prettiest  wedding  they'd 
ever  seen,  and  the  most  good  things  to  eat,  and  Laddie 
and  the  Princess  went  with  them.  When  the  last  one  was 
gone,  and  only  the  relatives  from  Ohio  were  left,  mother 
pitched  on  the  bed,  gripped  her  hands  and  cried  as  if  she'd 
go  to  pieces,  and  father  cried  too,  and  all  of  us,  even  Mrs. 
Freshett,  who  stayed  to  wash  up  the  dishes.  She  was  so 
tickled  to  be  there,  and  see,  and  help,  that  mother  had 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         195 

hard  work  to  keep  her  from  washing  the  linen  that  same 
night.  She  did  finish  the  last  dish,  scrub  the  kitchen  floor, 
black  the  stove,  and  pack  all  the  borrowed  china  in  tubs, 
ready  to  be  taken  home,  and  things  like  that.  Mother 
said  it  was  a  burning  shame  for  any  neighbourhood  to 
let  a  woman  get  so  starved  out  and  lonesome  she'd  act 
that  way.  She  said  enough  was  enough,  and  when  Mrs. 
Freshett  had  cooked  all  day,  and  washed  dishes  until  the 
last  skillet  was  in  place,  she  had  done  as  much  as  any 
neighbour  ought  to  do,  and  the  other  things  she  went  on 
and  did  were  a  rebuke  to  us. 

I  felt  sore,  weepy,  and  tired  out.  It  made  me  sick  to 
think  of  the  sage  bag  in  the  cracked  churn,  so  I  climbed 
my  very  own  catalpa  tree  in  the  corner,  watched  up  the 
road  for  Laddie,  and  thought  things  over.  If  I  ever 
get  married  I  want  a  dress,  and  a  wedding  exactly  like  that, 
but  I  would  like  a  man  quite  different  from  Peter;  like 
Laddie  would  suit  me  better.  When  he  rode  under  the 
tree,  I  dropped  from  a  limb  into  his  arms,  and  went  with 
him  to  the  barn.  He  asked  me  what  was  going  on  at  the 
house,  and  I  told  him  about  Mrs.  Freshett  being  a  rebuke 
to  us;  and  Laddie  said  she  was,  and  he  didn't  believe 
one  word  against  her.  When  I  told  him  mother  was  in 
bed  crying  like  anything,  he  said:  "I  knew  that  had  to 
come  when  she  kept  up  so  bravely  at  the  station.  Thank 
the  Lord,  she  showed  her  breeding  by  holding  in  until  she 
got  where  she  had  a  right  to  cry  if  she  pleased." 

Then  I  whispered  for  fear  Leon  might  be  around; 
"Did  he  set  the  dogs  on  you?" 

"He  did  not,"  said  Laddie,  laughing  softly. 


196  LADDIE 

"Did  he  call  you  names  again?" 

"He  did!"  said  Laddie,  "but  I  started  it.  You  see, 
when  we  got  there,  Thomas  was  raking  the  grass  and  he 
came  to  take  the  Princess'  horse.  Her  father  was  reading 
on  a  bench  under  a  tree.  I  helped  her  down,  and  walked 
with  her  to  the  door  and  said  good-bye,  and  thanked  her 
for  the  pleasure  she  had  added  to  the  day  for  us,  loudly 
enough  that  he  could  hear;  then  I  went  over  to  him  and 
said:  'Good  evening,  Mr.  Pryor.  If  my  father  knew  any- 
thing about  it,  he  would  very  much  regret  that  company 
from  Ohio  detained  him  and  compelled  me  to  escort 
your  daughter  home.  He  would  greatly  have  enjoyed  the 
privilege,  but  I  honestly  believe  that  I  appreciated  it  far 
more  than  he  could.' " 

"Oh  Laddie,  what  did  he  say?" 

"He  arose  and  glared  at  me,  and  choked  on  it,  and  he 
tried  several  times,  until  I  thought  the  clods  were  going  to 
fly  again,  but  at  last  he  just  spluttered:  'You  blathering 
rascal,  you!'  That  was  such  a  compliment  compared 
with  what  I  thought  he  was  going  to  say  that  I  had  to 
laugh.  He  tried,  but  he  couldn't  keep  from  smiling  him- 
self, and  then  I  said:  'Please  think  it  over,  Mr.  Pryor,  and 
if  you  find  that  Miss  Pryor  has  had  an  agreeable,  enter- 
taining day,  won't  you  give  your  consent  for  her  to  come 
among  us  again?  Won't  you  allow  me  to  come  here,  if  it 
can  be  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  I  intrude  on  no  oner' ' 

"Oh  Laddie!" 

"He  exploded  in  a  kind  of  a  snarl  that  meant,  I'll  see 
you  in  the  Bad  Place  first.  So  I  said  to  him:  'Thank  you 
very  much   for  to-day,   anyway.     I'm  sure  Miss   Pryor 


WHEN  SALLY  MARRIED  PETER         197 

has  enjoyed  this  day,  and  it  has  been  the  happiest  of  my 
life — one  to  be  remembered  always.  Of  course  I  won't 
come  here  if  I  am  unwelcome,  but  I  am  in  honour  bound 
to  tell  you  that  I  intend  to  meet  your  daughter  elsewhere, 
whenever  I  possibly  can.  I  thought  it  would  be  a  better 
way  for  you  to  know  and  have  us  where  you  could  see 
what  was  going  on,  if  you  chose,  than  for  us  to  meet 
without  your  knowledge."' 

"Oh  Laddie,"  I  wailed,  "now  you've  gone  and  ruined 
everything!" 

"Not  so  bad  as  that,  Little  Sister,"  laughed  Laddie. 
"Not  half  so  bad!  He  exploded  in  another  growl,  and 
he  shook  his  walking  stick  at  me,  and  he  said— guess 
what  he  said." 

"That  he  would  kill  you,"  I  panted,  clinging  to  him. 

"Right!"  said  Laddie.  "You  have  it  exactly.  He 
said:  'Young  man,  I'll  brain  you  with  my  walking  stick 
if  ever  I  meet  you  anywhere  with  my  daughter,  when 
you  have  not  come  to  her  home  and  taken  her  with  my 
permission.'" 

"What!"  I  stammered.  "What!  Oh  Laddie,  say  it 
over!     Does  it  mean ?" 

"It  means,"  said  Laddie,  squeezing  me  until  I  was  near 
losing  my  breath,  "it  means,  Little  Sister,  that  I  shall 
march  to  his  door  and  ask  him  squarely,  and  if  it  is  any- 
where the  Princess  wants  to  go,  I  shall  take  her." 

"Like,  'See  the  conquering  hero  comes?'" 

"Exactly!"  laughed  Laddie. 

"What  will  mother  say?" 

"She  hasn't  made  up  her  mind  yet,"  answered  Laddie. 


198  LADDIE 

.  y  *'Do  you  mean ?"  I  gasped  again. 

*'Of  course!"  said  Laddie.  "I  wasn't  going  to  let  a 
■girl  get  far  ahead  of  me.  The  minute  I  knew  she  had  told 
her  mother,  I  told  mine  the  very  first  chance." 

"Mother  knows  that  you  feel  about  the  Princess  as 
father  does  about  her?" 

"Mother  knows,"  answered  Laddie,  "and  so  does 
father.     I  told  both  of  them." 

Both  of  them  knew!  And  it  hadn't  made  enough 
difference  that  any  one  living  right  with  them  every  day 
could  have  told  it.  Time  and  work  will  be  needed  to 
understand  grown  people. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Shropshire  and  the  Crusader 

"  For,  among  the  rich  and  gay, 

Fine,  and  grand,  and  decked  in  laces, 
None  appear  more  glad  then  they, 
With  happier  hearts,  or  happier  faces." 

VERY  one  told  mother  for  a  week  before  the 
wedding  that  she  would  be  sick  when  it  was  over, 
and  sure  enough  she  was.  She  had  been  on  her 
feet  too  much,  and  had  so  many  things  to  think  about,  and 
there  had  been  such  a  dreadful  amount  of  work  for  her  and 
Candace,  even  after  all  the  neighbours  helped,  that  she 
was  sick  in  bed  and  we  couldn't  find  a  thing  she  could  eat, 
until  she  was  almost  wild  with  hunger  and  father  seemed 
as  if  he  couldn't  possibly  bear  it  a  day  longer. 

After  Candace  had  tried  everything  she  could  think  of, 
I  went  up  and  talked  it  over  with  Sarah  Hood,  and  she 
came  down,  pretending  she  happened  in,  and  she  tried 
thickened  milk,  toast  and  mulled  buttermilk;  she  kept 
trying  for  two  days  before  she  gave  up.  Candace  thought 
of  new  things,  and  Mrs.  Freshett  came  and  made  all  the 
sick  dishes  she  knew,  but  mother  couldn't  even  taste  them; 
so  we  were  pretty  blue,  and  we  nearly  starved  ourselves, 
for  how  could  we  sit  and  eat  everything  you  could  mention, 
and  mother  lying  there,  almost  crying  with  hunger? 

199 


zoo  LADDIE 

Saturday  morning  I  was  hanging  around  her  room  hop- 
ing maybe  she  could  think  of  some  least  little  thing  I  could 
do  for  her,  even  if  no  more  than  to  bring  a  glass  of  water, 
or  a  late  rose  to  lay  on  her  pillow;  it  would  be  better  than 
not  being  able  to  do  anything  at  all.  After  a  while  she 
opened  her  eyes  and  looked  at  me,  and  I  scarcely  knew 
her.  She  smiled  the  bravest  she  could  and  said:  "Sorry 
for  mother,  dear?" 

I  nodded.  I  couldn't  say  much,  and  she  tried  harder 
than  ever  to  be  cheerful  and  asked:  "What  are  you  plan- 
ning to  do  to-day?" 

"If  you  can't  think  of  one  thing  I  can  do  for  you,  guess 
I'll  go  fishing,"  I  said. 

Her  eyes  grew  brighter  and  she  seemed  half  interested. 

"Why,  Little  Sister,"  she  said,  "if  you  can  catch  some 
of  those  fish  like  you  do  sometimes,  I  believe  I  could  eat 
one  of  them." 

I  never  had  such  a  be-hanged  time  getting  started. 
I  slipped  from  the  room,  and  never  told  a  soul  even  where 
I  was  going.  I  fell  over  the  shovel  and  couldn't  find 
anything  quick  enough  but  my  pocket  to  put  the  worms 
in,  and  I  forgot  my  stringer.  At  last,  when  I  raced  down 
the  hill  to  the  creek  and  climbed  over  the  water  of  the 
deep  place,  on  the  roots  of  the  Pete  Billings  yowling  tree, 
I  had  only  six  worms,  my  apple  sucker  pole,  my  cotton 
cord  line,  and  bent  pin  hook.  I  put  the  first  worm  on 
carefully,  and  if  ever  I  prayed!  Sometimes  it  was  hard 
to  understand  about  this  praying  business.  My  mother 
was  the  best  and  most  beautiful  woman  who  ever  lived. 
She  was  clean,  and  good,  and  always  helped  "the  poor 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  201 

and  needy  who  cluster  round  your  door,"  like  it  says  in  the 
poetry  piece,  and  there  never  could  have  been  a  reason 
why  God  would  want  a  woman  to  suffer  herself,  when  she 
went  flying  on  horseback  even  dark  nights  through  rain 
or  snow,  to  doctor  other  people's  pain,  and  when  she  gave 
away  things  like  she  did — why,  I've  seen  her  take  a  big 
piece  of  meat  from  the  barrel,  and  a  sack  of  meal,  and 
heaps  of  apples  and  potatoes  to  carry  to  Mandy  Thomas 
— when  she  gave  away  food  by  the  wagonload  at  a  time, 
God  couldn't  have  wanted  her  to  be  hungry,  and  yet  she 
was  that  very  minute  almost  crying  for  food;  and  I  prayed, 
oh  how  I  did  pray!  and  a  sneaking  old  back-ended  cray- 
fish took  my  very  first  worm.  I  just  looked  at  the  sky  and 
said :  "Well,  when  it's  for  a  sick  woman,  can't  You  do  any 
better  than  that?" 

I  suppose  I  shouldn't  have  said  it,  but  if  it  had  been 
your  mother,  how  would  you  have  felt?  I  pinched  the 
next  worm  in  two,  so  if  a  crayfish  took  that,  it  wouldn't 
j^et  but  half.  I  lay  down  across  the  roots  and  pulled  my 
bonnet  far  over  my  face  and  tried  to  see  to  the  bottom, 
I  read  in  school  the  other  day: 

"And  by  those  little  rings  on  the  water  I  know 
The  fishes  are  merrily  swimming  below." 

There  were  no  rings  on  the  water,  but  after  a  while  I 
saw  some  fish  darting  around,  only  they  didn't  seem  to  be 
hungry:  for  they  would  come  right  up  and  nibble  a  tiny 
bit  at  my  worm,  but  they  wouldn't  swallow  it.  Then 
one  did,  so  I  jerked  with  all  my  might,  jerked  so  hard 
the  fish  and  worm  both  flew  off,  and  I  had  only  the  hook 


202  LADDIE 

left.  I  put  on  the  other  half  and  tried  again.  I  prayed 
straight  along,  but  the  tears  would  come  that  time,  and 
the  prayer  was  no  powerful  effort  like  Brother  Hastings 
would  have  made;  it  was  little  torn  up  pieces  mostly: 
"O  Lord,  please  do  make  only  one  fish  bite!"  At  last 
one  did  bite  good,  so  I  swung  carefully  that  time,  and 
landed  it  on  the  grass,  but  it  was  so  little  and  it  hit  a  stone 
and  was  killed.  I  had  no  stringer  to  put  it  back  in  the 
water  to  keep  cool,  and  the  sun  was  hot  that  day,  like 
times  in  the  fall.  Stretched  on  the  roots,  with  it  shining 
on  my  back,  and  striking  the  water  and  coming  up  from 
below,  I  dripped  with  heat  and  excitement. 

I  threw  that  one  away,  put  on  another  worm,  and  a 
big  turtle  took  it,  the  hook,  and  broke  my  line,  and  almost 
pulled  me  in.  I  wouldn't  have  let  go  if  it  had,  for  I  just 
had  to  have  a  fish.  There  was  no  help  from  the  Lord  in 
that,  so  I  quit  praying,  only  what  I  said  when  I  didn't 
know  it.  Father  said  man  was  born  a  praying  animal, 
and  no  matter  how  wicked  he  was,  if  he  had  an  accident, 
or  saw  he  had  just  got  to  die,  he  cried  aloud  to  the  Lord 
for  help  and  mercy  before  he  knew  what  he  was  doing. 

I  could  hear  the  roosters  in  the  barnyard,  the  turkey 
gobbler,  and  the  old  ganders  screamed  once  in  a  while, 
and  sometimes  a  bird  sang  a  skimpy  little  fall  song;  noth- 
ing like  spring,  except  the  killdeers  and  larks;  they  were 
always  good  to  hear — and  then  the  dinner  bell  rang.  I 
wished  I  had  been  where  I  couldn't  have  heard  that,  be- 
cause I  didn't  intend  going  home  until  I  had  a  fish  that 
would  do  for  mother  if  I  stayed  until  night.  If  the  best 
one  in  the  family  had  to  starve,  we  might  as  well  all  go 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  203 

together;  but  I  wouldn't  have  known  how  hungry  I  was, 
if  the  bell  hadn't  rung  and  told  me  the  others  were  eating. 
So  I  bent  another  pin  and  tried  again.  I  lost  the  next 
worm  without  knowing  how,  and  then  I  turned  baby  and 
cried  right  out  loud.  I  was  so  thirsty,  the  salty  tears 
running  down  my  cheeks  tasted  good,  and  doing  some- 
thing besides  fishing  sort  of  rested  me;  so  I  looked  around 
and  up  at  the  sky,  wiped  my  face  on  the  skirt  of  my  sun- 
bonnet,  and  put  on  another  worm.  I  had  only  one  more 
left,  and  I  began  to  wonder  if  I  could  wade  in  and  catch 
a  fish  by  hand;  I  did  teeny  ones  sometimes,  but  I  knew  the 
water  there  was  far  above  my  head,  for  I  had  measured 
it  often  with  the  pole;  it  wouldn't  do  to  try  that;  instead  of 
helping  mother  any,  a  funeral  would  kill  her,  too,  so  I  fell 
back  on  the  Crusaders,  and  tried  again. 

Strange  how  thinking  about  them  helped.  I  pretended 
I  was  fighting  my  way  to  the  Holy  City,  and  this  was 
the  Jordan  just  where  it  met  the  sea,  and  I  had  to  catch 
enough  fish  to  last  me  during  the  pilgrimage  west  or  I'd 
never  reach  Jerusalem  to  bring  home  a  shell  for  the  Stan- 
ton crest.  I  pretended  so  hard,  that  I  got  braver  and 
stronger,  and  asked  the  Lord  more  like  there  was  some 
chance  of  being  heard.  All  at  once  there  was  a  jerk  that 
almost  pulled  me  in,  so  I  jerked  too,  and  a  big  fish  flew 
over  my  head  and  hit  the  bank  behind  me  with  a  thump. 
Of  course  by  a  big  fish  I  don't  mean  a  red  horse  so  long  as 
my  arm,  like  the  boys  bring  from  the  river;  I  mean  the 
biggest  fish  I  ever  caught  with  a  pin  in  our  creek.  It 
looked  like  the  whale  that  swallowed  Jonah,  as  it  went 
over  my  head.     I  laid  the  pole  across  the  roots,  jumped 


204  LADDIE 

up  and  turned,  and  I  had  to  grab  the  stump  to  keep  from 
falling  in  the  water  and  dying.  There  lay  the  fish,  the 
biggest  one  I  ever  had  seen,  but  it  was  flopping  wildly, 
and  it  wasn't  a  foot  from  a  hole  in  the  grass  where  a 
muskrat  had  burrowed  through.  If  it  gave  one  flop  that 
way,  it  would  slide  down  the  hole  straight  back  into  the 
water;  and  between  me  and  the  fish  stood  our  cross  old 
Shropshire  ram.  I  always  looked  to  see  if  the  sheep  were 
in  the  meadow  before  I  went  to  the  creek,  but  that  morn- 
ing I  had  been  so  crazy  to  get  something  for  mother  to  eat, 
I  never  once  thought  of  them — and  there  it  stood ! 

That  ram  hadn't  been  cross  at  first,  and  father  said 
it  never  would  be  if  treated  right,  and  not  teased,  and  if 
it  were,  there  would  be  trouble  for  all  of  us.  I  was  having 
more  than  my  share  that  minute,  and  it  bothered  me  a 
lot  almost  every  day.  I  never  dared  enter  a  field  any 
more  if  it  were  there,  and  now  it  was  stamping  up  and 
down  the  bank,  shaking  its  head,  and  trying  to  get  me; 
with  one  flop  the  fish  went  almost  in  the  hole,  and  the 
next  a  little  away  from  it.  Everything  put  together, 
I  thought  I  couldn't  stand  it.  I  never  wanted  anything 
as  I  wanted  that  fish,  and  I  never  hated  anything  as  I 
hated  that  sheep.  It  wasn't  the  sheep's  fault  either; 
Leon  teased  it  on  purpose,  just  to  see  it  chase  Polly  Mar- 
tin; but  that  was  more  her  doings  than  his. 

She  was  a  widow  and  she  crossed  our  front  meadoAV 
going  to  her  sister's.  She  had  two  boys  big  as  Laddie, 
and  three  girls,  and  father  said  they  lived  like  "the  lilies 
of  the  field ;  they  toiled  not,  neither  did  they  spin."  The}* 
never  looked  really  hungry  or  freezing,  but  they  never 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  205 

plowed,  or  planted,  they  had  no  cattle  or  pigs  or  chickens, 
only  a  little  corn  for  meal,  and  some  cabbage,  and  wild 
things  they  shot  for  meat,  and  coons  to  trade  the  skins  for 
more  powder  and  lead — bet  they  ate  the  coons — never  any 
new  clothes,  never  clean,  they  or  their  house.  Once 
when  father  and  mother  were  driving  past,  they  saw  Polly 
at  the  well  and  they  stopped  for  politeness  sake  to  ask 
how  she  was,  like  they  always  did  with  every  one.  Polly 
had  a  tin  cup  of  water  and  was  sopping  at  her  neck  with 
a  carpet  rag,  and  when  mother  asked,  "How  are  you, 
Mrs.  Martin?"  she  answered:  "Oh  I  ain't  very  well  this 
spring;  I  gest  I  got  the  go-backs!" 

Mother  said  Polly  looked  as  if  she'd  been  born  with 
the  "go-backs,"  and  had  given  them  to  all  her  children, 
her  home,  garden,  fields,  and  even  the  fences.  We  hadn't 
a  particle  of  patience  with  such  people.  When  you  are 
lazy  like  that  it  is  very  probable  that  you'll  live  to  see  the 
day  when  your  children  will  peep  through  the  fence  cracks 
and  cry  for  bread.  I  have  seen  those  Martin  children 
come  mighty  near  doing  it  when  the  rest  of  us  opened  our 
dinner  baskets  at  school;  and  if  mother  hadn't  always  put 
in  enough  so  that  we  could  divide,  I  bet  they  would.  If 
Polly  Martin  had  walked  up  as  if  she  were  alive,  and  had 
been  washed  and  neat,  and  going  somewhere  to  do  some 
one  good,  Leon  never  would  have  dreamed  of  such  a  thing 
as  training  the  Shropshire  to  bunt  her.  She  was  so  long 
and  skinny,  always  wore  a  ragged  shawl  over  her  head,  a 
floppy  old  dress  that  the  wind  whipped  out  behind,  and 
when  she  came  to  the  creek,  she  sat  astride  the  foot  log, 
and    hunched    along   with    her   hands;   that   tickled    the 


206  LADDIE 

boys  so,  Leon  began  teasing  the  sheep  on  purpose  to 
make  it  get  her.  But  inasmuch  as  she  saw  fit  to  go  abroad 
looking  so  funny,  that  any  one  could  see  she'd  be  a  perfect 
circus  if  she  were  chased,  I  didn't  feel  that  it  was  Leon's 
fault.  If,  like  the  little  busy  bee,  she  had  "improved  each 
shining  hour,"  he  never  would  have  done  it.  Seems  to 
me,  she  brought  the  trouble  on  her  own  head. 

First,  Leon  ran  at  the  Shropshire  and  then  jumped 
aside;  but  soon  it  grew  so  strong  and  quick  he  couldn't 
manage  that,  so  he  put  his  hat  on  a  stick  and  poked  it 
back  and  forth  through  a  fence  crack,  and  that  made  the 
ram  raving  mad.  At  last  it  would  butt  the  fence  until 
it  would  knock  itself  down,  and  if  he  dangled  the  hat 
again,  get  right  up  and  do  it  over.  Father  never  caught 
Leon,  so  he  couldn't  understand  what  made  the  sheep 
so  dreadfully  cross,  because  he  had  thought  it  was  quite 
peaceable  when  he  bought  it.  The  first  time  it  got  after 
Polly,  she  threw  her  shawl  over  its  head,  pulled  up  her 
skirts,  and  Leon  said  she  hit  just  eleven  high  places 
crossing  an  eighty-acre  field;  she  came  to  the  house 
crying,  and  father  had  to  go  after  her  shawl,  and  mother 
gave  her  a  roll  of  butter  and  a  cherry  pie  to  comfort 
her.  The  Shropshire  never  really  got  Polly,  but  any  one 
could  easily  see  what  it  would  do  to  me  if  I  dared  step 
around  that  stump,  and  it  was  dancing  and  panting 
to  begin.  If  whoever  wrote  that  "Gentle  Sheep,  pray 
tell  me  why,"  piece  ever  had  seen  a  sheep  acting  like 
that,  it  wouldn't  have  been  in  the  books;  at  least  I  think 
it  wouldn't,  but  one  can't  be  sure.  He  proved  that  he 
didn't  know  much  about  anything  outdoors  or  he  wouldn't 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  207 

have  said  that  sheep  were  "eating  grass  and  daisies  white^ 
from  the  morning  till  the  night,"  when  daisies  are  bittei 
as  gall. 

Flop!  went  the  fish,  and  its  tail  touched  the  edge  of 
the  hole.  Then  I  turned  around  and  picked  up  the  pole. 
I  put  my  sunbonnet  over  the  big  end  of  it,  and  poked 
it  at  the  ram,  and  drew  it  back  as  Leon  did  his  hat.  One 
more  jump  and  mother's  fish  would  be  gone.  I  stood  on 
the  roots  and  waved  my  bonnet.  The  sheep  lowered  its 
head  and  came  at  it  with  a  rush.  I  drew  back  the  polet 
and  the  sheep's  forefeet  slid  over  the  edge,  and  it  braced 
and  began  to  work  to  keep  from  going  in.  The  fish  gave 
a  big  flop  and  went  down  the  hole.  Then  I  turned  Cru- 
sader and  began  to  fight,  and  I  didn't  care  if  I  were  whipped 
black  and  blue,  I  meant  to  finish  that  old  black-faced 
Shropshire.  I  set  the  pole  on  the  back  of  its  neck  and 
pushed  with  all  my  might,  and  I  got  it  in,  too.  My,  but 
it  made  a  splash!  It  wasn't  much  good  at  swimming 
either,  and  it  had  no  chance,  for  I  stood  on  the  roots  and 
pushed  it  down,  and  hit  it  over  the  nose  with  all  my  mights 
and  I  didn't  care  how  far  it  came  on  the  cars,  or  how  much 
money  it  cost,  it  never  would  chase  me,  and  make  me  lose 
my  fish  again. 

I  didn't  hear  him  until  he  splashed  under  the  roots 
and  then  I  was  so  mad  I  didn't  see  that  it  was  Laddie;  I 
only  knew  that  it  was  some  one  who  was  going  to  help  out 
that  miserable  ram,  so  I  struck  with  all  my  might,  the 
sheep  when  I  could  hit  it,  if  not,  the  man. 

"You  little  demon,  stop!"  cried  Laddie. 

I  got  in  a  good  one  right  on  the  ram's  nose.     Then 


2o8  LADDIE 

Laddie  dropped  the  sheep  and  twisted  the  fish  pole  frorp 
my  fingers,  and  I  pushed  him  as  hard  as  I  could,  but  he  was 
too  strong.  He  lifted  the  sheep,  pulled  it  to  the  bank,  and 
rolled  it,  worked  its  jaws,  and  squeezed  water  from  it,  and 
worked  and  worked. 

"I  guess  you've  killed  it!"  he  said  at  last. 

"Goody!"  I  shouted.  "Goody!  Oh  but  I  am  glad  it's 
dead!" 

"What  on  earth  has  turned  you  to  a  fiend?"  asked 
Laddie,  beginning  work  on  the  sheep  again. 

"That  ram!"  I  said.  "Ever  since  Leon  made  it  cross 
so  it  would  chase  Polly  Martin,  it's  got  me  oftener  than 
her.  I  can't  go  anywhere  for  it,  and  to-day  it  made  me 
lose  a  big  fish,  and  mother  is  waiting.  She  thought 
maybe  she  could  eat  some." 

Then  I  roared;  bet  I  sounded  like  Bashan's  bull. 

"Dear  Lord!"  said  Laddie  dropping  the  sheep  and 
taking  me  in  his  wet  arms.  "Tell  me,  Biddy!  Tell 
me  how  it  is." 

Then  I  forgot  I  was  a  Crusader,  and  told  him  all  about 
it  as  well  as  I  could  for  choking,  and  when  I  finished 
he  bathed  my  hot  face,  and  helped  me  from  the  roots. 
Then  he  went  and  looked  down  the  hole  I  showed  him 
and  he  cried  out  quicklike,  and  threw  himself  on  the 
grass,  and  in  a  second  up  came  the  fish.  Some  one  had 
rolled  a  big  stone  in  the  hole,  so  the  fish  was  all  right, 
not  even  dead  yet,  and  Laddie  said  it  was  the  biggest  one 
he  ever  had  seen  taken  from  the  creek.  Then  he  said  if 
I'd  forgive  him  and  all  our  family,  for  spoiling  the  kind 
of  a  life  I  had  a  perfect  right  to  lead,  and  if  I'd  run  to 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  209 

the  house  and  get  a  big  bottle  from  the  medicine  case 
quick,  he  would  see  to  it  that  some  place  was  fixed  for 
that  sheep  where  it  would  never  bother  me  again.  So 
I  took  the  fish  and  ran  as  fast  as  I  could,  but  I  sent  May 
back  with  the  bottle,  and  did  the  scaling  myself.  No  one 
at  our  house  could  do  it  better,  for  Laddie  taught  me  the 
right  way  long  ago,  when  I  was  small,  and  I'd  done  it 
hundreds  of  times. 

Then  I  went  to  Candace  and  she  put  a  little  bit  of 
butter  and  a  speck  of  lard  in  a  skillet,  and  cooked  the 
fish  brown.  She  made  a  slice  of  toast  and  boiled  a  cup 
of  water  and  carried  it  to  the  door;  then  she  went  in  and 
set  the  table  beside  the  bed,  and  I  took  in  the  tray,  and 
didn't  spill  a  drop.  Mother  never  said  a  word;  she  just 
reached  out  and  broke  off  a  tiny  speck  and  nibbled  it, 
and  it  stayed;  she  tried  a  little  bigger  piece,  and  another, 
and  she  said:  "Take  out  the  bones,  Candace!"  She  ate 
every  scrap  of  that  fish  like  the  hungriest  traveller  who 
ever  came  to  our  door,  and  the  toast,  and  drank  the  hot 
water.  Then  she  went  into  a  long  sleep  and  all  of  us 
walked  tiptoe,  and  when  she  waked  up  she  was  better, 
and  in  a  few  days  she  could  sit  in  her  chair  again,  and  she 
began  getting  Shelley  ready  to  go  to  music  school. 

I  have  to  tell  you  the  rest,  too.  Laddie  made  the  ram 
come  alive,  and  father  sold  it  the  next  day  for  more 
than  he  paid  for  it.  He  said  he  hoped  I'd  forgive  him  for 
not  having  seen  how  it  had  been  bothering  me,  and  that 
he  never  would  have  had  it  on  the  place  a  day  if  he'd 
known.  The  next  time  he  went  to  town  he  bought  me  a 
truly  little  cane  rod,  a  real  fishing  line,  several  hooks* 


no  LADDIE 

and  a  red  bobber  too  lovely  to  put  into  the  water.  I 
thought  I  was  a  great  person  from  the  fuss  all  of  them 
made  over  me,  until  I  noticed  Laddie  shrug  his  shoulders, 
and  reach  back  and  rub  one,  and  then  I  remembered. 

I  went  flying,  and  thank  goodness!  he  held  out  his  arms, 

"Oh  Laddie!  I  never  did  it!"  I  cried.  "I  never, 
never  did!  I  couldn't!  Laddie,  I  love  you  best  of  any 
one;  you  know  I  do!" 

"Of  course  you  didn't!"  said  Laddie.  "My  Little 
Sister  wasn't  anywhere  around  when  that  happened. 
That  was  a  poor  little  girl  I  never  saw  before,  and  she 
was  in  such  trouble  she  didn't  know  what  she  was  doing. 
And  I  hope  I'll  never  see  her  again,"  he  ended,  twisting 
his  shoulder.  But  he  kissed  me  and  made  it  all  right, 
and  really  I  didn't  do  that;  I  just  simply  couldn't  have 
struck  Laddie. 

Marrying  off  Sally  was  little  worse  than  getting  Shelley 
ready  for  school.  She  had  to  have  three  suits  of  every- 
thing, and  a  new  dress  of  each  kind,  and  three  hats;  her 
trunk  wouldn't  hold  all  there  was  to  put  in  it;  and  father 
said  he  never  could  pay  the  bills.  He  had  promised  her 
to  go,  and  he  didn't  know  what  in  this  world  to  do;  be- 
cause he  never  had  borrowed  money  in  his  life,  and  he 
couldn't  begin;  for  if  he  died  suddenly,  that  would  leave 
mother  in  debt,  and  they  might  take  the  land  from  her. 
That  meant  he'd  spent  what  he  had  in  the  bank  on  Sally's 
wedding,  and  all  that  was  in  the  Underground  Station,  or 
maybe  the  Station  money  wasn't  his. 

Just  when  he  was  awfully  bothered,  mother  said  to 
never  mind,  she  believed  she  could  fix  it.     She  sent  al^ 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  211 

of  us  into  the  orchard  to  pick  the  fine  apples  that  didn't 
keep  well,  and  father  made  three  trips  to  town  to  sell 
them.  She  had  big  jars  of  lard  she  wouldn't  need  before 
butchering  time  came  again,  and  she  sold  dried  apples, 
peaches,  and  raspberries  from  last  year.  She  got  lots 
of  money  for  barrels  of  feathers  she'd  saved  to  improve 
her  feather  beds  and  pillows;  she  said  she  would  see  to  that 
later.  Father  was  so  tickled  to  get  the  money  to  help 
him  out  that  he  said  he'd  get  her  a  pair  of  those  wonder- 
ful new  blue  geese  like  Pryors  had,  that  every  one  stopped 
to  look  at.  When  there  was  not  quite  enough  yet,  from 
somewhere  mother  brought  out  money  that  she'd  saved 
for  a  long  time,  from  butter  and  eggs,  and  chickens, 
and  turkeys,  and  fruit  and  lard,  and  things  that  belonged 
to  her.  Father  hated  to  use  it  the  worst  way,  but  she 
said  she'd  saved  it  for  an  emergency,  and  now  seemed 
to  be  the  time. 

She  said  if  the  child  really  had  talent,  she  should  be 
about  developing  it,  and  while  there  would  be  many  who 
would  have  far  finer  things  than  Shelley,  still  she  meant 
her  to  have  enough  that  she  wouldn't  be  the  worst  looking 
one,  and  so  ashamed  she  couldn't  keep  her  mind  on  her 
work.  Father  said,  with  her  face  it  didn't  make  any 
difference  what  she  wore,  and  mother  said  that  was  just 
like  a  man;  it  made  all  the  difference  in  the  world  what  a 
girl  wore.  Father  said  maybe  it  did  to  the  girl,  and  other 
women;  what  he  meant  was  that  it  made  none  to  a  man. 
Mother  said  the  chief  aim  and  end  of  a  girl's  life  was  not 
wrapped  up  in  a  man;  and  father  said  maybe  not  with 
some  girls,  but  it  would  be  with  Shelley:  she  was  too 


212  LADDIE 

pretty  to  escape.  I  do  wonder  if  I'm  going  to  be  too 
pretty  to  escape,  when  I  put  on  long  dresses.  Sometimes 
I  look  in  the  glass  to  see  if  it's  coming,  but  I  don't 
suppose  it's  any  use.  Mother  says  you  can't  tell  a  thing 
at  the  growing  age  about  how  a  girl  is  going  to  look  at 
eighteen. 

When  everything  was  almost  ready,  Leon  came  in 
one  day  and  said:  "Shelley,  what  about  improving  your 
hair?     Have  you  tried  your  wild  grape  sap  yet?" 

Shelley  said:  "Why,  goodness  me!  We've  been  so 
busy  getting  Sally  married,  and  my  clothes  made,  I 
forgot  all  about  that.  Have  you  noticed  the  crock 
in  passing?     Is  there  anything  in  it?" 

"It  was  about  half  full,  once  when  I  went  by,"  said 
Leon.     "I  haven't  seen  it  lately." 

"Do  please  be  a  dear  and  look,  when  you  go  after  the 
cows  this  evening,"  said  Shelley.  "If  there's  anything 
in  it,  bring  it  up." 

"Do  it  yourself  for  want  of  me, 
The  boy  replied  quite  manfully," 

quoted  Leon  from  "The  Little  Lord  and  the  Farmer." 
He  was  always  teasing. 

"I  think  you're  mean  as  dirt  if  you  don't  bring  it," 
said  Shelley. 

Leon  grinned,  and  you  should  have  heard  the  nasty, 
teasing  way  he  said  more  of  that  same  piece: 

"Anger  and  pride  are  both  unwise, 
Vinegar  never  catches  flies " 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  213 

I  wondered  she  didn't  slap  him.  You  could  see  she 
wanted  to. 

"I  can  get  it  myself,"  she  said  angrily. 

"What  will  you  give  me  to  bring  it?"  asked  Leon, 
who  never  missed  a  chance  to  make  a  bargain. 

" My  grateful  thanks.  Are  they  not  a  proper  reward  ? " 
asked  Shelley. 

"Thanks  your  foot!"  said  Leon.  "Will  you  bring 
something  pretty  from  Chicago  for  Susie  Fall's  Christmas 
present?" 

Every  one  laughed,  but  Leon  never  cared.  He  liked 
Susie  best  of  any  of  the  girls,  and  he  wanted  every  one 
to  know  it.  He  went  straight  to  her  whenever  he  had  a 
chance,  and  he'd  already  told  her  mother  to  keep  all  the 
other  boys  away,  because  he  meant  to  marry  her  when 
he  grew  up,  and  Widow  Fall  said  that  was  fair  enough, 
and  she'd  save  her  for  him.  So  Shelley  said  she  would  get 
him  something  for  Susie,  and  Leon  brought  the  crock. 
Shelley  looked  at  it  sort  of  dubious-like,  tipped  it,  and 
stared  at  the  dirt  settled  in  the  bottom,  and  then  stuck 
in  her  finger  and  tasted  it.  She  looked  at  Leon  with  a 
queer  grin  and  said:  "Smarty,  smarty,  think  you're 
smart ! "  She  threw  the  creek  water  into  the  swill  bucket. 
No  one  said  a  word,  but  Leon  looked  much  sillier  than 
she  did.  After  he  was  gone  I  asked  her  if  she  would 
bring  him  a  Christmas  present  for  Susie  noiv,  and  she 
said  she  ought  to  bring  him  a  pretty  glass  bottle  labelled 
perfume,  with  hartshorn  it,  and  she  would,  if  she  thought 
he'd  smell  it  first. 

Shelley    felt    badly    about    leaving    mother   when    she 


2i4  LADDIE 

wasn't  very  well;  but  mother  said  it  was  all  right,  she 
had  Candace  to  keep  house,  and  May  and  me,  and  father, 
and  all  of  us  to  take  care  of  her,  and  it  would  be  best  for 
Shelley  to  go  now  and  work  hard  as  she  could,  while  she 
had  the  chance.  So  one  afternoon  father  took  her  trunk 
to  the  depot  and  bought  the  tickets  and  got  the  checks, 
and  the  next  day  Laddie  drove  to  Groveville  with  father 
and  Shelley,  and  she  was  gone.  Right  at  the  last,  she 
didn't  seem  to  want  to  leave  so  badly,  but  all  of  them 
said  she  must.  Peter's  cousin,  who  had  gone  last  year, 
was  to  meet  her,  and  have  a  room  ready  where  she  boarded 
if  she  could,  and  if  she  couldn't  right  away,  then  the 
first  one  who  left,  Shelley  was  to  have  the  place,  so  they'd 
be  together. 

There  were  eight  of  us  left,  counting  Candace  and  Miss 
Amelia,  and  you  wouldn't  think  a  house  with  eight  people 
living  in  it  could  be  empty,  but  ours  was.  Everything 
seemed  to  wilt.  The  roses  on  the  window  blinds  didn't 
look  so  bright  as  they  had;  mother  said  the  only  way  she 
could  get  along  was  to  keep  right  on  working.  She 
helped  Candace  all  she  could,  but  she  couldn't  be  on  her 
feet  very  much,  so  she  sat  all  day  long  and  peeled  peaches 
to  dry,  showed  Candace  how  to  jelly,  preserve,  and  spice 
them,  and  peeled  apples  for  butter  and  to  dry,  quantities 
more  than  we  could  use,  but  she  said  she  always  could 
sell  such  things,  and  with  the  bunch  of  us  to  educate 
yet,  we'd  need  the  money. 

When  it  grew  cold  enough  to  shut  the  doors,  and  have 
fire  at  night,  first  thing  after  supper  all  of  us  helped  clear 
the  table,  then  we  took  our  slates  and  books  and  learned 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  215 

our  lessons  for  the  next  day,  and  then  father  lined  us 
against  the  wall,  all  in  a  row  from  Laddie  down,  and  he 
pronounced  words — easy  ones  that  divided  into  syllables 
nicely,  for  me,  harder  for  May,  and  so  up  until  I  might 
sit  down.  For  Laddie,  May  and  Leon  he  used  the  geog- 
raphy,  the  Bible,  Roland's  history,  the  Christian  Advo- 
cate, and  the  Agriculturist.  My,  but  he  had  them  so  they 
could  spell!  After  that,  as  memory  tests,  all  of  us  recited 
our  reading  lesson  for  the  next  day,  especially  the  poetry 
pieces.  I  knew  most  of  them,  from  hearing  the  big  folks 
repeat  them  so  often  and  practise  the  proper  way  to  read 
them.  I  could  do  "Rienzi's  Address  to  the  Romans," 
"Casabianca,"  "Gray's  Elegy,"  or  "Mark  Antony's 
Speech,"  but  best  of  all,  I  liked  "Lines  to  a  Water-fowl." 
When  he  was  tired,  if  it  were  not  bedtime  yet,  all  of  us, 
boys  too,  sewed  rags  for  carpet  and  rugs.  Laddie  braided 
corn  husks  for  the  kitchen  and  outside  door  mats,  and  they 
were  pretty,  and  "very  useful  too,"  like  the  dog  that  got 
his  head  patted  in  McGuffey's  Second. 

Then  they  picked  the  apples.  These  had  to  be  picked 
by  hand,  wrapped  in  soft  paper,  packed  in  barrels,  and 
shipped  to  Fort  Wayne.  Where  they  couldn't  reach  by 
hand,  they  stood  on  barrels  or  ladders,  and  used  a  long 
handled  picker,  so  as  not  to  bruise  the  fruit.  Laddie 
helped  with  everything  through  the  day,  worked  at  his 
books  at  night,  and  whenever  he  stepped  outside  he 
looked  in  the  direction  of  Pryors'.  He  climbed  to  the 
topmost  limbs  of  the  trees  with  a  big  basket,  picked  it 
full  and  let  it  down  with  a  long  piece  of  clothesline.  I 
loved  to  be  in  the  orchard  when  they  were  working;  there 


216  LADDIE 

were  plenty  of  summer  apples  to  eat  yet;  it  was  fun  to 
watch  the  men,  and  sometimes  I  could  be  useful  by  hand- 
ing baskets  or  heaping  up  apples  to  be  buried  for  us. 

One  night  father  read  about  a  man  who  had  been 
hanged  for  killing  another  man,  and  they  cut  him  down 
too  soon,  so  he  came  alive,  and  they  had  to  hang  him  over; 
and  father  got  all  worked  up  about  it.  He  said  the  man 
had  suffered  death  the  first  time  to  "all  intents  and  pur- 
poses," so  that  fulfilled  the  requirements  of  the  law,  and 
they  were  wrong  when  they  hanged  him  again.  Laddie 
said  it  was  a  piece  of  bungling  sure  enough,  but  the  law 
said  a  man  must  be  "hanged  by  his  neck  until  he  was 
dead,"  and  if  he  weren't  dead,  why,  it  was  plain  he  hadn't 
fulfilled  the  requirements  of  the  law,  so  they  were  forced 
to  hang  him  again.  Father  said  that  law  was  wrong;  the 
man  never  should  have  been  hanged  in  the  first  place. 
They  talked  and  argued  until  we  were  all  excited  about 
it,  and  the  next  evening  after  school  Leon  and  I  were 
helping  pick  apples,  and  when  father  and  Laddie  went 
to  the  barn  with  a  load  we  sat  down  to  rest  and  we  thought 
about  what  they  said. 

"Gee,  that  was  tough  on  the  man!"  said  Leon,  "but 
I  guess  the  law  is  all  right.  Of  course  he  wouldn't  want 
to  die,  and  twice  over  at  that,  but  I  don't  suppose  the 
man  he  killed  liked  to  die  either.  I  think  if  you  take  a 
life,  it's  all  right  to  give  your  own  to  pay  for  it." 

"Leon,"  I  said,  "some  time  when  you  are  fighting 
Absalom  Saunders  or  Lou  Wicks,  just  awful,  if  you  hit 
them  too  hard  on  some  tender  spot  and  kill  them,  would 
you  want  to  die  to  pay  for  it  ? " 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  217 

"I  wouldn't  want  to,  but  I  guess  I'd  have  to,"  said 
Leon.  "That's  the  law,  and  it's  as  good  a  way  to  make  it 
as  any.  But  I'm  not  going  to  kill  any  one.  I've  studied 
my  physiology  hard  to  find  all  the  spots  that  will  kill. 
I  never  hit  them  behind  the  ear,  or  in  the  pit  of  the  stom- 
ach; I  just  black  their  eyes,  bloody  their  snoots,  and 
swat  them  on  the  chin  to  finish  off  with." 

"Well,  suppose  they  don't  study  their  physiologies 
like  you  do,  and  hit  you  in  the  wrong  place,  and  kill  you, 
would  you  want  them  hanged  by  the  neck  until  they  were 
dead,  to  pay  for  it  ? " 

"I  don't  think  I'd  want  anything  if  I  were  dead,"  he 
said.  "I  wonder  how  it  feels  to  die.  Now  that  man  knew. 
I'd  like  to  be  hanged  enough  to  find  out  how  it  goes,  and 
then  come  back,  and  brag  about  it.  I  don't  think  it 
hurts  much;  I  believe  I'll  try  it." 

So  Leon  took  the  rope  Laddie  lowered  the  baskets 
with,  and  threw  it  over  a  big  limb.  Then  he  rolled  up  a 
barrel  and  stood  on  it  and  put  my  sunbonnet  on  with  the 
crown  over  his  face,  for  a  black  cap,  and  made  the  rope 
into  a  slip  noose  over  his  head,  and  told  me  to  stand 
back  by  the  apple  tree  and  hold  the  rope  tight,  until  he 
said  he  was  hanged  enough.  Then  he  stepped  from 
the  barrel.  It  jerked  me  toward  him  about  a  yard,  as 
he  came  down  smash!  on  his  feet.  I  held  with  all  my 
might,  but  he  was  too  heavy — and  falling  that  way. 
So  he  went  to  trying  to  fix  some  other  plan,  and  I  told 
him  the  sensible  thing  to  do  would  be  for  him  to  hang 
me,  because  he'd  be  strong  enough  to  hold  me  and  I 
could  tell  him  how  it  felt  just  as  well.     So  we  fixed  me 


218  LADDIE 

up  like  we  had  him,  and  when  Leon  got  the  rope  stretched, 
he  wrapped  it  twice  around  the  apple  tree  so  it  wouldn't 
jerk  him  as  it  had  me,  and  when  he  said  "Ready,"  I 
stepped  from  the  barrel.  The  last  thing  I  heard  was  Leon 
telling  me  to  say  when  I  was  hanged  enough.  I  was  so 
heavy,  the  rope  stretched,  and  I  went  down  until  it  almost 
tore  oft  my  head,  and  I  couldn't  get  a  single  breath,  so 
of  course  I  didn't  tell  him,  and  I  couldn't  get  on  the  bar- 
rel, and  my  tongue  went  out,  and  my  chest  swelled  up, 
and  my  ears  roared,  and  I  kicked  and  struggled,  and  all 
the  time  I  could  hear  Leon  laughing,  and  shouting  to  keep 
it  up,  that  I  was  dying  fine;  only  he  didn't  know  that  I 
really  was,  and  at  last  I  didn't  feel  or  know  anything  more. 

When  I  came  to,  I  was  lying  on  the  grass,  while  father 
was  pumping  my  arms,  and  Laddie  was  pouring  creek 
water  on  my  face  from  his  hat,  and  Leon  was  running 
around  in  circles,  clear  crazy.  I  heard  father  tell  him 
he'd  give  him  a  scutching  he'd  remember  to  the  day  of 
his  death;  but  inasmuch  as  I  had  told  Leon  to  do  it,  I 
had  to  grab  father  and  hold  to  him  tight  as  I  could,  until 
I  got  breath  enough  to  explain  how  it  happened.  Even 
then  I  wasn't  sure  what  he  was  going  to  do. 

After  all  that,  when  I  tried  to  tell  Leon  how  it  felt, 
he  just  cried  like  a  baby,  and  he  wouldn't  listen  to  a 
word,  even  when  he'd  wanted  to  know  so  badly.  He 
said  if  I  hadn't  come  back,  he'd  have  gone  to  the  barn 
and  used  the  swing  rope  on  himself,  so  it  was  a  good 
thing  I  did,  for  one  funeral  would  have  cost  enough, 
when  we  needed  money  so  badly,  not  to  mention  how 
mother  would  have  felt  to  have  two  of  us  go  at  once. 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  219 

like  she  had  before.  And  anyway,  it  didn't  amount  to  so 
awful  much.  It  was  pretty  bad  at  first,  but  it  didn't  last 
long,  and  the  next  day  my  neck  was  only  a  little  blue  and 
stiff,  and  in  three  days  it  was  all  over,  only  a  rough  place 
where  the  rope  grained  the  skin  as  I  went  down;  but  I 
never  got  to  tell  Leon  how  it  felt;  I  just  couldn't  talk  him 
into  hearing,  and  it  was  quite  interesting  too;  but  still 
I  easily  saw  why  the  man  in  the  paper  would  object  to 
dying  twice,  to  pay  for  killing  another  man  once. 

When  the  apples  were  picked  and  the  cabbage,  beets, 
turnips,  and  potatoes  were  buried,  some  corn  dried  in 
the  garret  for  new  meal,  pumpkins  put  in  the  cellar,  the 
field  corn  all  husked,  and  the  butchering  done,  father 
said  the  work  was  in  such  fine  shape,  with  Laddie  ro 
help,  and  there  was  so  much  more  corn  than  he  needed 
for  us,  and  the  price  was  so  high,  and  the  turkeys  did  so 
well,  and  everything,  that  he  could  pay  back  what  mother 
helped  him,  and  have  quite  a  sum  over. 

It  was  Thanksgiving  by  that  time,  and  all  of  Win- 
field's,  Lucy's,  Sally  and  Peter,  and  our  boys  came  home. 
We  had  a  big  time,  all  but  Shelley;  it  was  too  expensive 
for  her  to  come  so  far  for  one  day,  but  mother  sent  her  a 
box  with  a  whole  turkey  for  herself  and  her  friends;  and 
cake,  popcorn,  nuts,  and  just  everything  that  wasn't 
too  drippy.  Shelley  wrote  such  lovely  letters  that  mother 
saved  them  and  after  we  had  eaten  as  much  dinner  as  we 
could,  she  read  them  before  we  left  the  table. 

I  had  heard  most  of  them,  but  I  liked  to  listen  again, 
because  they  sounded  so  happy.  You  could  hear  Shelley 
laugh  on  every  page.     She  told  about  how  Peter's  cousin 


22o  LADDIE 

was  waiting  when  the  train  stopped.  They  couldn't 
room  together  right  away,  but  they  were  going  to  the 
first  chance  they  had.  Shelley  felt  badly  because  they 
were  so  far  apart,  but  she  was  in  a  nice  place,  where  she 
could  go  with  other  girls  of  the  school  until  she  learned 
the  way.  She  told  about  her  room  and  the  woman  she 
boarded  with  and  what  she  had  to  eat;  she  wrote  mother 
not  to  worry  about  clothes,  because  most  of  the  others 
were  from  the  country,  or  small  towns,  and  getting  ready 
to  teach,  and  lots  of  them  didn't  have  nearly  as  many 
or  as  pretty  dresses  as  she  did.  She  told  about  the  big 
building,  the  classes,  the  professors,  and  of  going  to 
public  recitals  where  some  of  the  pupils  who  knew  enough 
played;  and  she  was  working  her  fingers  almost  to  the 
bone,  so  she  could  next  year.  She  told  of  people  she 
met,  and  how  one  of  the  teachers  took  a  number  of  girls 
in  his  class  to  see  a  great  picture  gallery.  She  wrote 
pages  about  a  young  Chicago  lawyer  she  met  there,  and 
only  a  few  lines  about  the  pictures,  so  father  said  as  that 
was  the  best  collection  of  art  work  in  Chicago,  it  was 
easy  enough  to  see  that  Shelley  had  been  far  more  im- 
pressed with  the  man  than  she  had  been  with  the  pictures. 
Mother  said  she  didn't  see  how  he  could  say  a  thing  like 
that  about  the  child.  Of  course  she  couldn't  tell  in  a 
letter  about  hundreds  of  pictures,  but  it  was  easy  enough 
to  tell  all  about  a  man. 

Father  got  sort  of  spunky  at  that,  and  he  said  it  was 
mighty  little  that  mattered  most,  that  could  be  told 
about  a  Chicago  lawyer;  and  mother  had  better  caution 
Shelley  to  think  more  about  her  work,  and  write  less  of 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  221 

the  man.  Mother  said  that  would  stop  the  child's 
confidences  completely  and  she'd  think  all  the  time  about 
the  man,  and  never  mention  him  again,  so  she  wouldn't 
know  what  was  going  on.  She  said  she  was  glad  Shelley- 
had  found  pleasing,  refined  friends,  and  she'd  encourage 
her  all  she  could  in  cultivating  them;  but  of  course  she'd 
caution  her  to  be  careful,  and  she'd  tell  her  what  the 
danger  was,  and  after  that  Shelley  wrote  and  wrote. 
Mother  didn't  always  read  the  letters  to  us,  but  she 
answered  every  one  she  got  that  same  night.  Sometimes 
she  pushed  the  pen  so  she  jabbed  the  paper,  and  often 
she  smiled  or  laughed  softly. 

I  liked  Thanksgiving  We  always  had  a  house  full  of 
company,  and  they  didn't  stay  until  we  were  tired  of  them, 
as  they  did  at  Christmas,  and  there  was  as  much  to  eat; 
the  only  difference  was  that  there  were  no  presents.  It 
wasn't  nearly  so  much  work  to  fix  for  one  day  as  it  was  for 
a  week;  so  it  wasn't  so  hard  on  mother  and  Candace,  and 
father  didn't  have  to  spend  much  money.  We  were 
wearing  all  our  clothes  from  last  fall  that  we  could,  and 
our  coats  from  last  winter  to  help  out,  but  we  didn't 
care.  We  had  a  lot  of  fun,  and  we  wanted  Sally  and 
Shelley  to  have  fine  dresses,  because  they  were  in  big 
cities  where  they  needed  them,  and  in  due  season,  no 
doubt,  we  would  have  much  more  than  they,  because,  as 
May  figured  it,  there  would  be  only  a  few  of  us  by  that 
time,  so  we  could  have  more  to  spend.  That  looked  sen- 
sible, and  I  thought  it  would  be  that  way,  too.  We  were 
talking  it  over  coming  from  school  one  evening,  and  when 
we  had  settled  it,  we  began  to  play  "Dip  and  Fade."  That 


222  LADDIE 

was  a  game  we  made  up  from  being  at  church,  and  fall 
and  spring  were  the  only  times  we  could  play  it,  because 
then  the  rains  filled  all  the  ditches  beside  the  road  where 
the  dirt  was  plowed  up  to  make  the  bed  higher,  and  we 
had  to  have  the  water  to  dip  in  and  fade  over. 

We  played  it  like  that,  because  it  was  as  near  as  we 
could  come  to  working  out  a  song  Isaac  Thomas  sang 
every  time  he  got  happy.  He  had  a  lot  of  children  at 
home,  and  more  who  had  died,  from  being  half-fed  and 
frozen,  mother  thought;  and  he  was  always  talking  about 
meeting  the  "pore  innocents"  in  Heaven,  and  singing 
that  one  song.  Every  time  he  made  exactly  the  same 
speech  in  meeting.  It  began  like  reciting  poetry,  only 
it  didn't  rhyme,  but  it  sort  of  cut  off*  in  lines,  and  Isaac 
waved  back  and  forth  on  his  feet,  and  half  sung  it,  and 
the  rags  waved  too,  but  you  just  couldn't  feel  any  thrills 
of  earnestness  about  what  he  said,  because  he  needed 
washing,  and  to  go  to  work  and  get  him  some  clothes 
and  food  to  fill  out  his  frame.  He  only  looked  funny, 
and  made  you  want  to  laugh.  It  took  Emanuel  Ripley 
to  raise  your  hair.  I  don't  know  why  men  like  my  father, 
and  the  minister,  and  John  Dover  stood  it;  they  talked 
over  asking  Isaac  to  keep  quiet  numbers  of  times,  but 
the  minister  said  there  were  people  like  that  in  every 
church,  they  always  came  among  the  Lord's  anointed, 
and  it  was  better  to  pluck  out  your  right  eye  than  to 
offend  one  of  them,  and  he  was  doubtful  about  doing 
it.  So  we  children  all  knew  that  the  grown  people 
scarcely  could  stand  Isaac's  speech,  and  prayer,  and 
song,  and  that  they  were  afraid  to  tell  him  plain  out  that 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  223 

he  did  more  harm  than  good.  Every  meeting  about 
the  third  man  up  was  Isaac,  and  we  had  to  watch  him 
wave,  and  rant,  and  go  sing-songy: 

"Oh  brethering  and  sistering — ah, 
It  delights  my  heart — ah  to  gather  with  you, 
In  this  holy  house  of  worship — ah. 
In  his  sacred  word — ah, 
The  Lord — ah  tells  us, 
That  we  are  all  his  childring — ah. 
And  now,  lemme  exhort  you  to-night — ah, 
As  one  that  loves  you — ah, 
To  choose  that  good  part,  that  Mary  chose — ah, 
That  the  worrrr-uld  kin  neither  give  ner  take  away — ah." 

That  went  on  until  he  was  hoarse,  then  he  prayed, 
and  arose  and  sang  his  song.  Other  men  spoke  where 
they  stood.  Isaac  always  walked  to  the  altar,  faced 
the  people,  and  he  was  tired  out  when  he  finished,  but 
so  proud  of  himself,  so  happy,  and  he  felt  so  sure  that 
his  efforts  were  worth  a  warm  bed,  sausage,  pancakes, 
maple  syrup,  and  coffee  for  breakfast,  that  it  was  mighty 
seldom  he  failed  to  fool  some  one  else  into  thinking  so 
too,  and  if  he  could,  he  wouldn't  have  to  walk  four  miles 
home  on  cold  nights,  with  no  overcoat.  In  summer, 
mostly,  they  let  him  go.  Isaac  always  was  fattest  in 
winter,  especially  during  revivals,  but  at  any  time  mother 
said  he  looked  like  a  sheep's  carcass  after  the  buzzards 
had  picked  it.  It  could  be  seen  that  he  was  perfectly 
strong,  and  could  have  fed  and  clothed  himself,  and  Mandy 
and  the  children,  quite  as  well  as  our  father  did  us,  if 
he  had  wanted  to  work,  for  we  had  the  biggest  family 
of  the  neighbourhood.     So  we  children  made  fun  of  him 


'224  LADDIE 

and  we  had  to  hold  our  mouths  shut  when  he  got  up  all 
tired  and  teary-like,  and  began  to  quaver: 

"Many  dear  childurn  we  know  dew  stan', 
Un  toon  ther  harps  in  the  better  Ian', 
Ther  little  hans  frum  each  soundin'  string, 
Bring  music  sweet,  wile  the  Anguls  sing, 
Bring  music  sweet,  wile  the  Anguls  sing, — 

We  shell  meet  them  agin  on  that  shore, 

We  shell  meet  them  agin  on  that  shore, 

With  fairer  face,  un  angel  grace, 

Each  loved  un  ull  welcome  us  ther. 

"They  uster  mourn  when  the  childurn  died, 
Un  said  goo-bye  at  the  river  side, 
They  dipped  ther  feet  in  the  glidin'  stream, 
Un  faded  away,  like  a  loveli  dream, 
Un  faded  away  like  a  loveli  dream." 

Then  the  chorus  again,  and  then  Isaac  dropped  on 
the  front  seat  exhausted,  and  stayed  there  until  some 
good-hearted  woman,  mostly  my  mother,  felt  so  sorry 
about  his  shiftlessness  she  asked  him  to  go  home  with  us 
and  warmed  and  fed  him,  and  put  him  in  the  traveller's 
bed  to  sleep.  The  way  we  played  it  was  this:  we  stood 
together  at  the  edge  of  a  roadside  puddle  and  sang  the 
first  verse  and  the  chorus  exactly  as  Isaac  did.  Then 
I  sang  the  second  verse,  and  May  was  one  of  the  "many 
dear  childurn,"  and  as  I  came  to  the  lines  she  dipped  her 
feet  in  the  "glidin'  stream,"  and  for  "fading  away,"  she 
jumped  across. 

Now  May  was  a  careful  little  soul,  and  always  watched 
what  she  was  doing,  so  she  walked  up  a  short  way,  chose 
a  good  place,  and  when  I  sang  the  line,  she  was  almost 


SHROPSHIRE  AND  CRUSADER  225 

birdlike,  she  dipped  and  faded  so  gracefully.  Then  we 
laughed  like  dunces,  and  then  May  began  to  sway  and 
swing,  and  drone  through  her  nose  for  me,  and  I  was  so 
excited  I  never  looked.  I  just  dipped  and  faded  on  the 
spot.  I  faded  all  right  too,  for  I  couldn't  jump  nearly 
across,  and  when  I  landed  in  pure  clay  that  had  been 
covered  with  water  for  three  weeks,  I  went  down  to  my 
knees  in  mud,  to  my  waist  in  water,  and  lost  my  balance 
and  fell  backward. 

A  man  passing  on  horseback  pried  me  out  with  a  rail 
and  helped  me  home.  Of  course  he  didn't  know  how 
I  happened  to  fall  in,  and  I  was  too  chilled  to  talk.  I 
noticed  May  only  said  I  fell,  so  I  went  to  bed  scorched 
inside  with  red  pepper  tea,  and  never  told  a  word  about 
dipping  and  fading.  Leon  whispered  and  said  he  bet 
it  was  the  last  time  I  would  play  that,  so  as  soon  as  my 
coat  and  dress  were  washed  and  dried,  and  I  could  go  back 
to  school,  I  did  it  again,  just  to  show  him  I  was  no  cowardy- 
calf;  but  I  had  learned  from  May  to  choose  a  puddle  I 
could  manage  before  I  faded. 


CHAPTER  IX 
"Even  So" 

"All  things  whatsoever  ye  would 
That  men  should  do  to  you, 
Do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

OUR  big  girls  and  boys  always  made  a  dreadful 
fuss  and  said  we  would  catch  every  disease  you 
could  mention,  but  mother  and  father  were  set 
about  it,  just  like  the  big  rocks  in  the  hills.  They  said 
they,  themselves,  once  had  been  at  the  mercy  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  they  knew  how  it  felt.  Mother  said  when  they 
were  coming  here  in  a  wagon,  and  she  had  ridden  until  she 
had  to  walk  to  rest  her  feet,  and  held  a  big  baby  until 
her  arms  became  so  tired  she  drove  while  father  took 
it,  and  when  at  last  they  saw  a  house  and  stopped,  she 
said  if  the  woman  hadn't  invited  her  in,  and  let  her  cook 
on  the  stove,  given  her  milk  and  eggs,  and  furnished  her  a 
bed  to  sleep  in  once  in  a  while,  she  couldn't  have  reached 
here  at  all;  and  she  never  had  been  refused  once.  Then 
she  always  quoted:  "All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

Father  said  there  were  men  who  made  a  business  of 
splitting  hairs,  and  of  finding  different  meanings  in  almost 
everything  in  the  Bible.  I  would  like  to  have  seen  any 
one  split  hairs  about  that,  or  it  made  to  mean  something 

226 


"EVEN  SO"  227 

else.  Of  all  the  things  in  the  Bible  that  you  had  to  do 
because  it  said  to,  whether  you  liked  it  or  not,  that  was 
the  one  you  struck  oftenest  in  life  and  it  took  the  hardest 
pull  to  obey.  It  was  just  the  hatefulest  text  of  any,  and 
made  you  squirm  most.  There  was  no  possible  way  to 
get  around  it.  It  meant,  that  if  you  liked  a  splinter  new 
slate,  and  a  sharp  pencil  all  covered  with  gold  paper,  to 
make  pictures  and  write  your  lessons,  when  Clarissa  Polk 
sat  next  you  and  sang  so  low  the  teacher  couldn't  hear 
until  she  put  herself  to  sleep  on  it,  "I  wisht  I  had  a  slate! 
I  wisht  I  had  a  slate!  I  wisht  I  had  a  slate!  Oh  I  wisht 
I  had  a  slate!" — it  meant  that  you  just  had  to  wash  up 
yours  and  stop  making  pictures  yourself,  and  pass  it  over; 
you  even  had  to  smile  when  you  offered  it,  if  you  did 
it  right.  I  seldom  got  through  it  as  the  Lord  would,  for 
any  one  who  loaned  Clarissa  a  slate  knew  that  it  would 
come  back  with  greasy,  sweaty  finger  marks  on  it  you 
almost  had  to  dig  a  hole  to  wash  off",  and  your  pencil 
would  be  wet.  And  if  there  were  the  least  flaw  of  crystal 
in  the  pencil,  she  found  it,  and  bore  down  so  hard  that 
what  she  wrote  never  would  come  off". 

The  Lord  always  seemed  bigger  and  more  majestic  to 
me,  than  at  any  other  time,  when  I  remembered  that  He 
could  have  known  all  that,  and  yet  smiled  as  He  loaned 
Clarissa  His  slate.  And  that  old  Bible  thing  meant,  too, 
that  if  you  would  like  it  if  you  were  travelling  a  long 
way,  say  to  California  to  hunt  gold,  or  even  just  to  In- 
diana, to  find  a  farm  fit  to  live  on — it  meant  that  if  you 
were  tired,  hungry,  and  sore,  and  would  want  to  be  taken 
in  and  fed  and  rested,  you  had  to  let  in  other  people  when 


228  LADDIE 

they  reached  your  house.  Father  and  mother  had  been 
through  it  themselves,  and  they  must  have  been  tired  as 
could  be,  before  they  reached  Sarah  Hood's  and  she  took 
them  in,  and  rested  and  fed  them,  even  when  they  were 
only  a  short  way  from  the  top  of  the  Little  Hill,  where 
next  morning  they  looked  down  and  stopped  the  wagon, 
until  they  chose  the  place  to  build  their  house.  Sarah 
Hood  came  along,  and  helped  mother  all  day,  so  by 
night  she  was  settled  in  the  old  cabin  that  was  on  the 
land,  and  ready  to  go  to  work  making  money  to  build 
a  new  one,  and  then  a  big  house,  and  fix  the  farm  all 
beautiful  like  it  was  then.  They  knew  so  well  how  it 
felt,  that  they  kept  one  bed  in  the  boys'  room,  and  any 
man  who  came  at  dusk  got  his  supper,  to  sleep  there,  and 
his  breakfast,  and  there  never  was  anything  to  pay.  The 
girls  always  scolded  dreadfully  about  the  extra  washing, 
but  mother  said  she  slept  on  sheets  when  she  came  out, 
and  some  one  washed  them. 

One  time  Sally  said:  "Mother,  have  you  ever  figured 
out  how  many  hundred  sheets  you've  washed  since,  to 
pay  for  that?" 

Mother  said:  "No,  but  I  just  hope  it  will  make  a  stack 
high  enough  for  me  to  climb  from  into  Heaven." 

Sally  said:  "The  talk  at  the  church  always  led  me  to 
think  that  you  flew  to  Heaven." 

Mother  answered:  "So  I  get  there,  I  don't  mind  if  I 
creep." 

Then  Sally  knew  it  was  time  to  stop.  We  always 
knew.     And  we  stopped,  too! 

We  had  heard  that  "All  things"  quotation,  until  the 


"EVEN  SO"  229 

first  two  words  were  as  much  as  mother  ever  needed 
repeat  of  it  any  more,  and  we  had  cooked,  washed  for, 
and  waited  on  people  travelling,  until  Leon  got  so  when 
he  saw  any  one  coming — of  course  we  knew  all  the  neigh- 
bours, and  their  horses  and  wagons  and  carriages — he 
always  said :  "Here  comes  another  ' Even  So ! ' "  He  said 
we  had  done  "even  so"  to  people  until  it  was  about  our 
share,  but  mother  said  our  share  was  going  to  last  until  the 
Lord  said,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  and 
took  us  home.  She  had  much  more  about  the  stranger 
at  the  gate  and  entertaining  angels  unawares;  why,  she 
knew  every  single  thing  in  the  Bible  that  meant  it  was 
her  duty  to  feed  and  give  a  bed  to  any  one,  no  matter 
how  dirty  or  miserable  looking  he  was!  So  when  Leon 
came  in  one  evening  at  dusk  and  said,  "There's  another 
'Even  So'  coming  down  the  Little  Hill!"  all  of  us  knew 
that  we'd  have  company  for  the  night,  and  we  had. 

I  didn't  like  that  man,  but  some  of  the  others  seemed 
to  find  him  amusing.  Maybe  it  was  because  I  had  nothing 
to  do  but  sit  and  watch  him,  and  so  I  saw  more  of  him 
than  the  ones  who  came  and  went  all  the  time.  As 
long  as  there  was  any  one  in  the  room,  he  complained 
dreadfully  about  his  sore  foot,  and  then  cheered  up  and 
talked,  and  he  could  tell  interesting  things.  He  was 
young,  but  he  must  have  been  most  everywhere  and  seen 
everything.  He  was  very  brave  and  could  stand  off 
three  men  who  were  going  to  take  from  him  the  money 
he  was  carrying  to  buy  a  piece  of  land  in  Illinois.  The 
minute  the  grown  folks  left  the  room  to  milk,  do  the  night 
feeding,  and  begin  supper,  he  twisted  in  his  chair  and 


230  LADDIE 

looked  at  every  door,  and  went  and  stood  at  the  back 
dining-room  window,  where  he  could  see  the  barn  and 
what  was  out  there,  and  coming  back  he  took  a  peep  intc 
father's  and  mother's  room,  and  although  he  limped  dread- 
fully when  he  came,  he  walked  like  any  one  when  he  went 
over  and  picked  up  father's  gun  and  looked  to  see  if  it 
were  loaded,  and  seemed  mighty  glad  when  he  found  it 
wasn't.  Father  said  he  could  load  in  a  flash  when  it  was 
necessary,  but  he  was  dubious  about  a  loaded  gun  in  a 
house  full  of  children.  Not  one  of  us  ever  touched  it, 
until  the  boys  were  big  enough  to  have  permission,  like 
Laddie  and  Leon  had.  He  said  a  gun  was  such  a  great 
"moral  persuader,"  that  the  sight  of  one  was  mostly  all  that 
was  needed,  and  nobody  could  tell  by  looking  at  it  whether 
it  was  loaded  or  not.  This  man  could,  for  he  examined 
the  lock  and  smiled  in  a  pleased  way  over  it,  and  he  never 
limped  a  step  going  back  to  his  chair.  He  kept  on  com- 
plaining, until  father  told  him  before  bedtime  that  he  had 
better  rest  a  day  or  two,  and  mother  said  that  would  be  a 
good  idea. 

He  talked  so  much  we  couldn't  do  our  lessons  or  spell 
very  well,  but  it  was  Friday  and  we'd  have  another  chance 
Saturday,  so  it  didn't  make  so  much  difference.  Father 
said  the  traveller  must  be  tired  and  sleepy  and  Leon 
should  take  a  light  and  show  him  to  bed.  He  stayed  so 
long  father  went  to  the  foot  of  the  stairway,  and  asked 
him  why  he  didn't  come  down  and  he  said  he  was  in  bed 
too.  The  next  morning  he  was  sleepy  at  breakfast  and 
Laddie  said  it  was  no  wonder,  because  Leon  and  the 
traveller  were  talking  when  he  went  upstairs.     The  man 


"EVEN  SO"  231 

turned  to  father  and  said:  "That's  a  mighty  smart  boy, 
Mr.  Stanton."  Father  frowned  and  said:  "Praise  to 
the  face  is  open  disgrace.  I  hope  he  will  be  smart  enough 
not  to  disgrace  us,  anyway." 

The  traveller  said  he  was  sure  he  would  be,  and  we 
could  see  that  he  had  taken  a  liking  to  Leon,  for  he  went 
with  him  to  the  barn  to  help  do  the  morning  feeding. 
They  stayed  so  long  mother  sent  me  to  call  them,  and 
when  I  got  there,  the  man  was  telling  Leon  how  foolish 
it  was  for  boys  to  live  on  a  farm;  how  they  never  would 
amount  to  anything  unless  they  went  to  cities,  and  about 
all  the  fun  there  was  there,  and  how  nice  it  was  to  travel, 
even  along  the  roads,  because  every  one  fed  you,  and 
gave  you  a  good  bed.  He  forgot  that  walking  had  made 
his  foot  lame,  and  I  couldn't  see,  to  save  me,  why  he 
was  going  to  spend  his  money  to  buy  a  farm,  if  he  thought 
a  town  the  only  place  where  it  was  fit  to  live. 

He  stayed  all  Saturday,  and  father  said  Sunday  was 
no  suitable  time  to  start  on  a  journey  again,  and  the  man's 
foot  was  bad  when  father  was  around,  so  it  would  be 
better  to  wait  until  Monday.  The  traveller  tagged  Leon 
and  told  him  what  a  fine  fellow  he  was,  how  smart  he  was, 
and  to  prove  it,  Leon  boasted  about  everything  he  knew, 
and  showed  the  man  all  over  the  farm. 

I  even  saw  them  pass  the  Station  in  the  orchard,  and 
heard  Leon  brag  how  father  had  been  an  agent  for  the 
Governor;  but  of  course  he  didn't  really  show  him  the 
place,  and  probably  it  would  have  made  no  difference  if  he 
had,  for  all  the  money  must  have  been  spent  on  Sally's 
wedding.     Of  course  father  might  have  put  some  there 


232  LADDIE 

he  had  got  since,  or  that  money  might  never  have  been 
his  at  all,  but  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  be,  because  it  was 
on  his  land. 

Sunday  evening  all  of  us  attended  church,  but  the  travel- 
ler was  too  tired,  so  when  Leon  said  he'd  stay  with  him, 
father  thought  it  was  all  right.  I  could  see  no  one  wanted 
to  leave  the  man  alone  in  the  house.  He  said  they'd 
go  to  bed  early,  and  we  came  in  quite  late.  The  lamp 
was  turned  low,  the  door  unlocked,  and  everything 
in  place.  Laddie  went  to  bed  without  a  candle,  and  said 
he'd  undress  and  slip  in  easy  so  as  not  to  waken  them. 

In  the  morning  when  he  got  up  the  traveller's  bed 
hadn't  been  slept  in,  and  neither  had  Leon's.  The 
gun  was  gone,  and  father  stared  at  mother,  and  mother 
stared  at  Laddie,  and  he  turned  and  ran  straight  toward 
the  Station,  and  in  a  minute  he  was  back,  whiter  than 
a  plate.  He  just  said:  "All  gone!"  Father  and  mother 
both  sat  down  suddenly  and  hard.  Then  Laddie  ran 
to  the  barn  and  came  back  and  said  none  of  the  horses 
had  been  taken.  Soon  they  went  into  the  parlour  and 
shut  the  door,  and  when  they  came  out  father  staggered 
and  mother  looked  exactly  like  Sabethany.  Laddie  ran 
to  the  barn,  saddled  Flos  and  rode  away.  Father  wanted 
to  ring  an  alarm  on  the  dinner  bell,  like  he  had  a  call 
arranged  to  get  all  the  neighbours  there  quickly  if  we 
had  sickness  or  trouble,  and  mother  said:  "Paul,  you 
shall  not!  He's  so  young!  We've  got  to  keep  this  as 
long  as  we  can,  and  maybe  the  Lord  will  help  us  find  him, 
and  we  can  give  him  another  chance." 

Father  started  to  say  something,  and  mother  held  up 


"EVEN  SO"  233 

her  hand  and  just  said,  "Paul!"  and  he  sank  back  in  the 
chair  and  kept  still.  Mother  always  had  spoken  of  him 
as  "the  Head  of  the  Family,"  and  here  he  wasn't  at  all! 
He  minded  her  quickly  as  I  would. 

When  Miss  Amelia  came  downstairs  they  let  her  start 
to  school  and  never  told  her  a  word,  but  mother  said 
May  and  I  were  not  to  go.  So  I  slipped  out  and  ran 
through  the  orchard  to  look  at  the  Station,  and  sure 
enough!  the  stone  was  rolled  back,  the  door  open  and 
the  can  lying  on  the  floor.  I  slid  down  and  picked  it  up, 
and  there  was  one  sheet  of  paper  money  left  in  it  stuck 
to  the  sides.  It  was  all  plain  as  a  pikestaff.  Leon  must 
have  thought  the  money  had  been  spent,  and  showed  the 
traveller  the  Station,  just  to  brag,  and  he  guessed  there 
might  be  something  there,  and  had  gone  while  we  were  at 
church  and  taken  it.  He  had  all  night  the  start  of  us, 
and  he  might  have  a  horse  waiting  somewhere,  and  be 
almost  to  Illinois  by  this  time,  and  if  the  money  belonged 
to  father,  there  would  be  no  Christmas;  and  if  it  hap- 
pened to  be  the  money  the  county  gave  him  to  pay  the 
men  who  worked  the  roads  every  fall,  and  Miss  Amelia,  or 
collections  from  the  church,  he'd  have  to  pay  it  back, 
even  if  it  put  him  in  debt;  and  if  he  died,  they  might  take 
the  land,  like  he  said;  and  where  on  earth  was  Leon? 
Knew  what  he'd  done  and  hiding,  I  bet!  He  needed  the 
thrashing  he  would  get  that  time,  and  I  started  out  to 
hunt  him  and  have  it  over  with,  so  mother  wouldn't  be 
uneasy  about  him  yet;  and  then  I  remembered  Laddie 
had  said  Leon  hadn't  been  in  bed  all  night.  He  was  gone 
too! 


234  LADDIE 

Maybe  he  wanted  to  try  life  in  a  city,  where  the  travel- 
ler had  said  everything  was  so  grand;  but  he  must  have 
known  that  he'd  kill  his  mother  if  he  went,  and  while 
he  didn't  kiss  her  so  often,  and  talk  so  much  as  some  of 
us,  I  never  could  see  that  he  didn't  run  quite  as  fast  to 
get  her  a  chair  or  save  her  a  step.  He  was  so  slim  and 
light  he  could  race  for  the  doctor  faster  than  Laddie 
or  father,  either  one.  Of  course  he  loved  his  mother,  just 
as  all  of  us  did;  he  never,  never  could  go  away  and  not 
let  her  know  about  it.  If  he  had  gone,  that  watchful- 
eyed  man,  who  was  lame  only  part  of  the  time,  had  taken 
the  gun  and  made  him  go.  I  thought  I  might  as  well 
save  the  money  he'd  overlooked,  so  I  gripped  it  tight 
in  my  hand,  and  put  it  in  my  apron  pocket,  the  same  as  I 
had  Laddie's  note  to  the  Princess,  and  started  to  the  barn, 
on  the  chance  that  Leon  might  be  hiding.  I  knew  pre- 
cious well  I  would,  if  I  were  in  his  place.  So  I  hunted 
the  granaries,  the  haymow,  the  stalls,  then  I  stood  on 
the  threshing  floor  and  cried:  "Leon!  If  you're  hiding 
come  quick!  Mother  will  be  sick  with  worrying  and 
father  will  be  so  glad  to  see  you,  he  won't  do  anything 
much.     Do  please  hurry!" 

Then  I  listened,  and  all  I  could  hear  was  a  rat  gnawing 
at  a  corner  of  the  granary  under  the  hay.  Might  as 
well  have  saved  its  teeth,  it  would  strike  a  strip  of  tin 
when  it  got  through,  but  of  course  it  couldn't  know  that. 
Then  I  went  to  every  hole  around  the  haystack,  where 
the  cattle  had  eaten;  none  were  deep  yet,  like  they  would 
be  later  in  the  season,  and  all  the  way  I  begged  of  Leon 
to  come  out.     Once  a  rooster  screamed,  flew  in  my  face, 


"EVEN  SO"  235 

and  scared  me  good,  but  no  Leon;  so  I  tried  the  corn 
crib,  the  implement  shed,  and  the  wood  house,  climbing 
the  ladder  with  the  money  still  gripped  in  one  hand. 
Then  I  slipped  in  the  front  door,  up  the  stairs,  and  searched 
the  garret,  even  away  back  where  I  didn't  like  to  very  well. 
At  last  I  went  to  the  dining-room,  and  I  don't  think  either 
father  or  mother  had  moved,  while  Sabethany  turned  to 
stone  looked  good  compared  with  them.  Seemed  as  if  it 
would  have  been  better  if  they'd  cried,  or  scolded,  or  any- 
thing but  just  sit  there  as  they  did,  when  you  could  see 
by  their  moving  once  in  a  while  that  they  were  alive.  In 
the  kitchen  Candace  and  May  finished  the  morning  work, 
and  both  of  them  cried  steadily.  I  slipped  to  May, 
"Whose  money  was  it?"  I  whispered.  "Father's,  or  the 
county's,  or  the  church's?" 

"All  three,"  said  May. 

"The  traveller  took  it." 

"How  would  he  find  it?  None  of  us  knew  there  was 
such  a  place  before." 

"Laddie  seemed  to  know!" 

"Oh  Laddie!     Father  trusts  him  about  everything." 

"They  don't  think  he  told?" 

"Of  course  not,  silly.     It's  Leon  who  is  gone!" 

"Leon  may  have  told  about  the  Station!"  I  cried. 
"He  didn't  touch  the  money.     He  never  touched  it!" 

Then  I  went  straight  to  father.  Keeping  a  secret  was 
one  thing;  seeing  the  only  father  you  had  look  like  that, 
was  another.     I  held  out  the  money. 

"There's  one  piece  old  Even  So  didn't  get,  anyway," 
I  said.     "Found  it  on  the  floor  of  the  Station,  where  it 


236  LADDIE 

was  stuck  to  the  can.  And  I  thought  Leon  must  be 
hiding  for  fear  he'd  be  whipped  for  telling,  but  I've 
hunted  where  we  usually  hide,  and  promised  him  every- 
thing under  the  sun  if  he'd  come  out;  but  he  didn't,  so  I 
guess  that  traveller  man  must  have  used  the  gun  to  make 
him  go  along." 

Father  sat  and  stared  at  me.  He  never  offered  to 
touch  the  money,  not  even  when  I  held  it  against  his 
hand.  So  I  saw  that  money  wasn't  the  trouble,  else  he'd 
have  looked  quick  enough  to  see  how  much  I  had.  They 
were  thinking  about  Leon  being  gone,  at  least  father 
was.  Mother  called  me  to  her  and  asked:  "You  knew 
about  the  Station?" 

I  nodded. 

"When?" 

"On  the  way  back  from  taking  Amanda  Deam  her 
ducks  this  summer." 

"  Leon  was  with  you  ? " 

"He  found  it." 

"What  were  you  doing?" 

"Sitting  on  the  fence  eating  apples.  We  were  wonder- 
ing why  that  ravine  place  wasn't  cleaned  up,  when  every- 
where else  was,  and  then  Leon  said  there  might  be  a 
reason.  He  told  about  having  seen  a  black  man,  and  that 
he  was  hidden  some  place,  and  we  hunted  there  and  found 
it.  We  rolled  back  the  stone,  and  opened  the  door,  and 
Leon  went  in,  and  both  of  us  saw  a  can  full  of  money." 
Go  on! 

"We  didn't  touch  it,  mother!  Truly  we  didn't!  Leon 
said   we'd    found    something  not   intended   for   children, 


"EVEN  SO"  237 

and  we'd  be  whipped  sick  if  we  ever  went  near  or  told, 
and  we  never  did,  not  even  once,  unless  Leon  wanted 
to  boast  to  the  traveller  man,  but  if  he  showed  him  the 
place,  he  thought  sure  the  money  had  all  been  spent  on 
the  wedding  and  sending  Shelley  away." 

Father's  arms  shot  out,  and  his  head  pitched  on  the 
table.  Mother  got  up  and  began  to  walk  the  floor,  and 
never  went  near  or  even  touched  him.  I  couldn't  bear 
it.  I  went  and  pulled  his  arm  and  put  the  bill  under  his 
hand. 

"Leon  didn't  take  your  money!  He  didn't!  He 
didn't!  I  just  know  he  didn'c!  He  does  tricks  because 
they  are  so  funny,  or  he  thinks  they'll  be,  but  he  doesn't 
steal!  He  doesn't  touch  a  single  thing  that  is  not  his, 
only  melons,  or  chicken  out  of  the  skillet,  or  bread  from 
the  cellar;  but  not  money  and  things.  I  take  gizzards 
and  bread  myself,  but  I  don't  steal,  and  Leon  or  none 
of  us  do!  Oh  father,  we  don't!  Not  one  of  us  do!  Don't 
you  remember  about  'Thou  shalt  not,'  and  the  Crusaders? 
Leon's  the  best  fighter  of  any  of  us.  I'm  not  sure  that 
he  couldn't  even  whip  Laddie,  if  he  got  mad  enough! 
Maybe  he  can't  whip  the  traveller  if  he  has  the  gun, 
but,  father,  Leon  simply  couldn't  take  the  money.  Laddie 
will  stay  home  and  work,  and  all  of  us.  We  can  help  get 
it  back.  We  can  sell  a  lot  of  things.  Laddie  will  sell 
Flos  before  he'll  see  you  suffer  so;  and  all  of  us  will  give 
up  Christmas,  and  we'll  work!  We'll  work  as  hard  as 
ever  we  can,  and  maybe  }'ou  could  spare  the  little  piece 
Joe  Risdell  wants  to  build  his  cabin  on.  We  can  manage 
about  the  money,  father,  indeed  we  can.     But  you  don't 


238  LADDIE 

dare  think  Leon  took  it!  He  never  did!  Why,  he's 
yours!     Yours  and  mother's!" 

Father  lifted  his  head  and  reached  out  his  arms. 

"You  blessing ! "  he  said.    "You  blessing  from  the  Lord ! " 

Then  he  gave  me  a  cold,  stiff  kiss  on  the  forehead, 
went  to  mother,  took  her  arm,  and  said:  "Come,  mommy, 
let's  go  and  tell  the  Lord  about  it,  and  then  we'll  try  to 
make  some  plan.  Perhaps  Laddie  will  be  back  with 
word  soon." 

But  he  almost  had  to  carry  her.  Then  we  could  hear 
him  praying,  and  he  was  so  anxious,  and  he  made  it  so 
earnest  it  sounded  exactly  like  the  Lord  was  in  our  room 
and  father  was  talking  right  to  His  face.  I  tried  to  think, 
and  this  is  what  I  thought:  as  father  left  the  room,  he 
looked  exactly  as  I  had  seen  Mr.  Pryor  more  than  once, 
and  my  mother  had  both  hands  gripped  over  her  heart, 
and  she  said  we  must  not  let  any  one  know.  Now  if 
something  could  happen  to  us  to  make  my  father  look 
like  the  Princess'  and  my  mother  hold  her  heart  with 
both  hands,  and  if  no  one  were  to  know  about  it  like  they 
had  said,  how  were  we  any  different  from  Pryors?  We 
might  be  of  the  Lord's  anointed,  but  we  could  get  into 
the  same  kind  of  trouble  the  infidels  could,  and  have 
secrets  ourselves,  or  at  least  it  seemed  as  if  it  might  be 
very  nearly  the  same,  when  it  made  father  and  mother 
look  and  act  the  way  they  did.  I  wondered  if  we'd 
have  to  leave  our  lovely,  lovely  home,  cross  a  sea  and  be 
strangers  in  a  strange  land,  as  Laddie  said;  and  if  people 
would  talk  about  us,  and  make  us  feel  that  being  a  stranger 
was  the  loneliest,  hardest  thing  in  all  the  world.     Well, 


"EVEN  SO"  239 

if  mysteries  are  like  this,  and  we  have  to  live  with  one 
days  and  years,  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  us!  Then  I 
saw  the  money  lying  on  the  table,  so  I  took  it  and  put  it 
in  the  Bible.  Then  I  went  out  and  climbed  the  catalpa 
tree  to  watch  for  Laddie. 

Soon  I  saw  a  funny  thing,  such  as  I  never  before  had 
seen.  Coming  across  the  fields  straight  toward  our  house, 
sailing  over  the  fences  like  a  bird,  came  the  Princess  on  one 
of  her  horses.  Its  legs  stretched  out  so  far  its  body 
almost  touched  the  ground,  and  it  lifted  up  and  swept 
over  the  rails.  She  took  our  meadow  fence  lengthwise- 
like,  and  at  the  hitching  rack  she  threw  the  bridle  over 
the  post,  dismounted,  and  then  I  saw  she  had  been  riding 
astride,  like  a  man.  I  ran  before  her  and  opened  the 
sitting-room  door,  but  no  one  was  there,  so  I  went  on  to 
the  dining-room.  Father  had  come  in,  and  mother  was 
sitting  in  her  chair.  Both  of  them  looked  at  the  Princess 
and  never  said  a  word. 

She  stopped  inside  the  dining-room  door  and  spoke 
breathlessly,  as  if  she  as  well  as  the  horse  had  raced. 

"I  hope  I'm  not  intruding,"  she  said,  "but  a  man 
north  of  us  told  our  Thomas  in  the  village  that  robbers 
had  taken  quite  a  large  sum  of  hidden  money  you  held 
for  the  county,  and  church,  and  of  your  own,  and  your 
gun,  and  got  away  while  you  were  at  church  last  night. 
Is  it  true?" 

"Practically,"  said  my  father. 

Then  my  mother  motioned  toward  a  chair. 

"You  are  kind  to  come,"  she  said.  "Won't  you  be 
seated?" 


240  LADDIE 

The  Princess  stepped  to  the  chair,  but  she  gripped 
the  back  in  both  hands  and  stood  straight,  breathing 
fast,  her  eyes  shining  with  excitement,  her  lips  and  cheeks 
red,  so  lovely  you  just  had  to  look,  and  look. 

"No,"  she  said.  "I'll  tell  you  why  I  came,  and  then 
if  there  is  nothing  I  can  do  here,  and  no  errand  I  can  ride 
for  you,  I'll  go.  Mother  has  heart  trouble,  the  worst  in 
all  the  world,  the  kind  no  doctor  can  ever  hope  to  cure, 
and  sometimes,  mostly  at  night,  she  is  driven  to  have 
outside  air.  Last  night  she  was  unusually  ill,  and  I  heard 
her  leave  the  house,  after  I'd  gone  to  my  room.  I  watched 
from  my  window  and  saw  her  take  a  seat  on  a  bench 
under  the  nearest  tree.  I  was  moving  around  and  often 
I  looked  to  see  if  she  were  still  there.  Then  the  dogs 
began  to  rave,  and  I  hurried  down.  They  used  to  run 
free,  but  lately,  on  account  of  her  going  out,  father  has 
been  forced  to  tie  them  at  night.  They  were  straining 
at  their  chains,  and  barking  dreadfully.  I  met  her  at 
the  door,  but  she  would  only  say  some  one  passed  and 
gave  her  a  fright.  When  Thomas  came  in  and  told  what 
he  had  heard,  she  said  instantly  that  she  had  seen  the  man. 

"She  said  he  was  about  the  size  of  Thomas,  that  he 
came  from  your  direction,  that  he  ran  when  our  dogs 
barked,  but  he  kept  beside  the  fences,  and  climbed  over 
where  there  were  trees.  He  crossed  our  barnyard  and 
went  toward  the  northwest.  Mother  saw  him  distinctly 
as  he  reached  the  road,  and  she  said  he  was  not  a  large 
man,  lie  stooped  when  he  ran,  and  she  thought  he  moved 
like  a  slinking,  city  thief.  She  is  sure  he's  the  man  who 
took  your  money;  she  says  he  acted  exactly  as  if  he  were 


"EVEN  SO"  241 

trying  to  escape  pursuit;  but  I  was  to  be  sure  to  tell  you 
that  he  didn't  carry  a  gun.  If  your  gun  is  gone,  there 
must  have  been  two,  and  the  other  man  took  that  and 
went  a  different  way.     Did  two  men  stop  here?" 

"No,"  said  father.     "Only  one." 

The  Princess  looked  at  him  thoughtfully. 

"Do  you  think,  Mr.  Stanton,"  she  said,  "that  the 
man  who  took  the  money  would  burden  himself  with  a 
gun?     Isn't  a  rifle  heavy  for  one  in  flight  to  carry?" 

"It  is,"  said  father.     "Your  mother  saw  nothing  of 


two  men 


?" 


"Only  one,  and  she  knows  he  didn't  carry  a  gun.  Ex- 
cept the  man  you  took  in,  no  stranger  has  been  noticed 
around  here  lately?" 

"No  one.  We  are  quite  careful.  Even  the  gun  was  not 
loaded  as  it  stood;  whoever  took  it  carried  the  ammunition 
also,  but  he  couldn't  fire  until  he  loaded." 

Father  turned  to  the  corner  where  the  gun  always  stood 
and  then  he  stooped  and  picked  up  two  little  white 
squares  from  the  floor.  They  were  bits  of  unbleached 
muslin  in  which  he  wrapped  the  bullets  he  made. 

"The  rifle  was  loaded  before  starting,  and  in  a  hurry," 
he  said,  as  he  held  up  the  squares  of  muslin.  Then  he 
scratched  a  match,  bent,  and  ran  it  back  and  forth  over 
the  floor,  and  at  one  place  there  was  a  flash,  and  the 
flame  went  around  in  funny  little  fizzes  as  it  caught  a 
grain  of  powder  here  and  there.  "You  see  the  measure 
was  overrun." 

"Wouldn't  the  man  naturally  think  the  gun  was  loaded, 
and  take  it  as  it  stood?" 


242  LADDIE 

"That  would  be  a  reasonable  conclusion,"  said  father. 

"But  he  looked!"  I  cried.  "That  first  night  when 
you  and  the  boys  went  to  the  barn,  and  the  girls  were 
getting  supper,  he  looked  at  the  gun,  and  he  liked  it  when 
he  saw  it  wasn't  loaded.  He  smiled.  And  he  didn't 
limp  a  mite  when  I  was  the  only  one  in  the  room.  He 
and  Leon  knew  it  wasn't  loaded,  and  I  guess  he  didn't 
load  it,  for  he  liked  having  it  empty  so  well." 

"Ummram!"  said  father.  "What  it  would  save  in 
this  world  if  a  child  only  knew  when  to  talk  and  when  to 
keep  still.  Little  Sister,  the  next  time  you  see  a  stranger 
examine  my  gun  when  I'm  not  in  the  room,  suppose  you 
take  father  out  alone  and  whisper  to  him  about  it." 

"Yes,  sir,"  I  said. 

The  way  I  wished  I  had  told  that  at  the  right  time 
made  me  dizzy,  but  then  there  were  several  good  switch- 
ings I'd  had  for  telling  things,  besides  what  Sally  did  to  me 
about  her  and  Peter.  I  would  have  enjoyed  knowing  how 
one  could  be  sure.  Hereafter,  it  will  be  all  right  about 
the  gun,  anyway. 

"Could  I  take  my  horse  and  carry  a  message  anywhere 
for  you?  Are  both  your  sons  riding  to  tell  the  neigh- 
bours?" 

Father  hesitated,  but  it  seemed  as  if  he  stopped  to 
think,  so  I  just  told  her:  "Laddie  is  riding.  Leon  didn't 
take  a  horse." 

Father  said  there  was  nothing  she  could  do,  so  she 
took  my  hand  and  we  started  for  the  gate. 

"I  do  hope  they  will  find  him,  and  get  back  the  money, 
and  give  him  what  he  deserves!"  she  cried. 


"EVEN  SO"  243 

"Yes,  father  and  mother  are  praying  that  they'll 
find  him,"  I  said.  "It  doesn't  seem  to  make  the  least 
difference  to  them  about  the  money.  Father  didn't 
even  look  at  a  big  paper  piece  I  found  where  it  was  hidden. 
But  they  are  anxious  about  the  man.  Mother  says  he 
is  so  young,  we  just  must  find  him,  and  keep  this  a  secret, 
and  give  him  another  chance.     You  won't  tell,  will  you?" 

The  Princess  stood  still  on  our  walk,  and  then  of  all 
things!  if  she  didn't  begin  to  go  Sabethany-like.  The 
colour  left  her  cheeks  and  lips  and  she  shivered  and 
shook  and  never  said  one  word.  I  caught  her  arm. 
"Say,  what  ails  you?"  I  cried.  "You  haven't  gone  and 
got  heart  trouble  too,  have  you?" 

She  stood  there  trembling,  and  then,  wheeling  suddenly, 
ran  back  into  the  house,  and  went  to  my  mother.  On  her 
knees,  the  Princess  buried  her  face  in  mother's  breast  and 
said:  "Oh  Mrs.  Stanton!     Oh,  if  I  only  could  help  you!" 

She  began  to  cry  as  if  something  inside  her  had  broken, 
and  she'd  shake  to  pieces. 

Mother  stared  above  her  head  at  father,  with  her  eye- 
brows raised  high,  and  he  waved  his  hand  toward  me. 
Mother  turned  to  me,  but  already  she  had  put  her  arms 
around  the  Princess,  and  was  trying  to  hold  her  together. 

"What  did  you  tell  her  that  made  her  come  back?"  she 
asked  sternlike. 

"You  forgot  to  explain  that  the  man  was  so  young, 
and  you  wanted  to  keep  it  a  secret  and  give  him  anothe^ 
chance,"  I  said.     "I  just  asked  her  not  to  tell." 

Mother  looked  at  father  and  all  the  colour  went  from 
her  face,   and   she  began  to  shake.     He  stared   at  her, 


244  LADDIE 

then  he  opened  her  door  and  lifted  the  Princess  with 
one  arm,  and  mother  with  the  other,  and  helped  them 
into  mother's  room,  stepped  back  and  closed  the  door. 
After  a  while  it  opened  and  they  came  out  together,  with 
both  mother's  arms  around  the  Princess,  and  she  had 
cried  until  she  staggered.  Mother  lifted  her  face  and 
kissed  her,  when  they  reached  the  door  and  said:  "Tell 
your  mother  I  understand  enough  to  sympathize.  Carry 
her  my  love.  I  do  wish  she  would  give  herself  the  com- 
fort of  asking  God  to  help  her." 

"She  does!  Oh,  I'm  sure  she  does!"  said  the  Prin- 
cess.    "It's  father  who  has  lost  all  judgment  and  reason." 

Father  went  with  her  to  the  gate,  and  this  time  she 
needed  help  to  mount  her  horse,  and  she  left  it  to  choose 
its  way  and  go  where  it  pleased  on  the  road.  When  father 
came  in  he  looked  at  mother,  and  she  said:  "I  haven't 
the  details,  but  she  understands  too  well.  The  Pryor 
mystery  isn't  much  of  a  mystery  any  more.  God  help 
their  poor  souls,  and  save  us  from  suffering  like  that!" 

She  said  so  little  and  meant  so  much,  I  couldn't  figure 
out  exactly  what  she  did  mean,  but  father  seemed  to  under- 
stand. 

"I've  often  wondered,"  he  said,  but  he  didn't  say  what 
he  wondered,  and  he  hurried  to  the  barn  and  saddled 
our  best  horse  and  came  in  and  began  getting  ready  to 
ride,  and  we  knew  he  would  go  northwest.  I  went  back 
to  the  catalpa  tree  and  wondered  myself;  but  it  was  too 
much  for  me  to  straighten  out:  just  why  my  mother 
wanting  to  give  the  traveller  man  another  chance  would 
make  the  Princess  feel  like  that.     If  she  had  known  my 


"EVEN  SO"  245 

mother  as  I  did,  she'd  have  known  that  she  always  wanted 
to  give  every  man  a  second  chance,  no  matter  whether  he 
was  young  or  old. 

Then  I  saw  Laddie  coming  down  the  Big  Hill  beside  the 
church,  but  he  was  riding  so  fast  I  thought  he  wouldn't 
want  to  bother  with  me,  so  I  slid  from  the  tree,  and  ran 
to  tell  mother.  She  went  to  the  door  and  watched  as 
he  rode  up,  but  you  could  see  by  his  face  he  had  not 
heard  of  them. 

"Nothing,  but  I  have  some  men  out.  I  am  going  east 
now,"  he  said.  "I  wish,  father,  you  would  rub  Flos 
down,  blanket  her,  and  if  you  can,  walk  her  slowly  an 
hour  while  she  cools  off.  I  am  afraid  I've  ruined  her. 
How  much  had  you  there  ? " 

"I  haven't  stopped  to  figure,"  said  father.  "I  think 
I'd  better  take  the  horse  I  have  ready  and  go  on  one  of 
the  northwest  roads.  The  Pryor  girl  was  here  a  few 
moments  ago,  and  her  mother  saw  a  man  cross  their 
place  about  the  right  time  last  evening.  He  ran  and 
acted  suspiciously  when  the  dogs  barked.  But  he  was 
alone  and  he  didn't  have  a  gun." 

"Was  she  sure?" 

"Positive." 

"Then  it  couldn't  have  been  our  man,  but  I'll  ride  in 
that  direction  and  start  a  search.  They  would  keep  to 
the  woods,  I  think!  You'd  better  stay  with  mother. 
I'll  ask  Jacob  Hood  to  take  your  place." 

So  Laddie  rode  away  again  without  even  going  into 
the  house,  and  mother  said  to  father:  "What  can  he  be 
saving  to  people,  that  the  neighbours  don't  come?" 


246  LADDIE 

Father  answered:  "I  don't  know,  but  if  any  one  can 
save  the  situation,  Laddie  will." 

Mother  went  to  bed,  while  father  sat  beside  her  read- 
ing aloud  little  scraps  from  the  Bible,  and  they  took  turns 
praying.  From  the  way  they  talked  to  the  Lord,  you 
could  plainly  see  that  they  were  reminding  Him  of  all  the 
promises  He  had  made  to  take  care  of  people,  comfort 
those  in  trouble,  and  heal  the  broken-hearted.  One  thing 
was  so  curious,  I  asked  May  if  she  noticed,  and  she  had. 
When  they  had  made  such  a  fuss  about  money  only  a 
short  while  before,  and  worked  so  hard  to  get  our  share 
together,  and  when  they  would  have  to  pay  back  all  that 
belonged  to  the  county  and  church,  neither  of  them  ever 
even  mentioned  money  then.  Every  minute  I  expected 
father  to  ask  where  I'd  put  the  piece  I  found,  and  when  he 
opened  right  at  it,  in  the  Bible,  he  turned  on  past,  exactly 
as  if  it  were  an  obituary,  or  a  piece  of  Sally's  wedding 
dress,  or  baby  hair  from  some  of  our  heads.  He  went  on 
hunting  places  where  the  Lord  said  sure  and  strong  that 
He'd  help  people  who  loved  Him.  When  either  of  them 
prayed,  they  asked  the  Lord  to  help  those  near  them  who 
were  in  trouble,  as  often  and  earnestly  as  they  begged 
Him  to  help  them.  There  were  no  people  near  us  who 
were  in  trouble  that  we  knew  of,  excepting  Pryors.  Hard 
as  father  and  mother  worked,  you'd  have  thought  the 
Lord  wouldn't  have  minded  if  they  asked  only  once  to  get 
the  money  back,  or  if  they  forgot  the  neighbours,  but  they 
did  neither  one.  May  said  because  they  were  big  like 
that  was  why  all  of  us  loved  them  so. 

I  would  almost  freeze  in  the  catalpa,  but  as  I  could  see 


"EVEN  SO"  247 

far  in  all  directions  there,  I  went  back,  and  watched  the 
roads,  and  when  I  remembered  what  Laddie  had  said,  I 
kept  an  eye  on  the  fields  too.  At  almost  dusk,  and  frozen 
so  stiff  I  could  scarcely  hang  to  the  limb,  I  heard  the 
bulldogs  at  Pryors'  begin  to  rave.  They  kept  on  steadily, 
and  I  thought  Gypsies  must  be  passing.  Then  from  the 
woods  came  a  queer  party  that  started  across  the  corn- 
field toward  the  Big  Meadow  in  front  of  the  house,  and 
I  thought  they  were  hunters.  I  stood  in  the  tree  and 
watched  until  they  climbed  the  meadow  fence,  and  by 
that  time  I  could  see  plainly. 

The  traveller  man  got  over  first,  then  Leon  and  the 
dogs,  and  then  Mr.  Pryor  handed  Leon  the  gun,  leaped 
over,  and  took  it.  I  looked  again,  and  then  fell  from  the 
tree  and  almost  bursted.  As  soon  as  I  could  get  up, 
and  breathe,  I  ran  to  the  front  door,  screaming:  "Father! 
Father!  Come  open  the  Big  Gate.  Leon's  got  him, 
but  he's  so  tired  Mr.  Pryor  is  carrying  the  gun,  and  help- 
ing him  walk!" 

Just  like  one,  all  of  us  ran;  father  crossed  the  road, 
and  opened  the  gate.  The  traveller  man  wouldn't  look 
up,  he  just  slouched  along.  But  Leon's  chin  was  up  and 
his  head  high.  He  was  scratched,  torn,  and  dirty.  He 
was  wheezing  every  breath  most  from  his  knees,  and  Mr. 
Pryor  half  carried  him  and  the  gun.  When  they  met  us, 
Leon  reached  in  his  trousers  pocket  and  drew  out  a  big 
roll  of  money  that  he  held  toward  father.  "My  fault!" 
he  gasped.     "  But  I  got  it  back  for  you." 

Then  he  fell  over  and  father  caught  him  in  his  armjr 
and  carried  him  into  the  house,  and  laid  him  on  the  couch 


248  LADDIE 

in  the  dining-room.  Mr.  Pryor  got  down  and  gathered 
up  the  money  from  the  road.  He  followed  into  the  house 
and  set  the  gun  in  the  corner. 

"Don't  be  frightened,"  he  said  to  mother.  "The 
boy  has  walked  all  night,  and  all  day,  with  no  sleep  or 
food,  and  the  gun  was  a  heavy  load  for  him.  I  gathered 
from  what  he  said,  when  the  dogs  let  us  know  they  were 
coming,  that  this  hound  took  your  money.  Your  dog 
barked  and  awakened  the  boy  and  he  loaded  the  gun 
and  followed.  The  fellow  had  a  good  start  and  he  didn't 
get  him  until  near  daybreak.  It's  been  a  stiff  pull  for  the 
youngster  and  he  seems  to  feel  it  was  his  fault  that  this 
cowardly  cur  you  sheltered  learned  where  you  kept  your 
money.     If  that  is  true,  I  hope  you  won't  be  hard  on  him!" 

Father  was  unfastening  Leon's  neckband,  mother  was 
rubbing  his  hands,  Candace  was  taking  off  his  shoes, 
and  May  was  spilling  water  father  had  called  for,  all  over 
the  carpet,  she  shook  so.  When  Leon  drew  a  deep  breath 
and  his  head  rolled  on  the  pillow,  father  looked  at  Mr. 
Pryor.  I  don't  think  he  heard  all  of  it,  but  he  caught  the 
last  words. 

'"Hard  on  him!  Hard  on  him!'"  he  said,  the  tears 
rolling  down  his  cheeks.  "'This  my  son,  who  was  lost, 
is  found!'" 

"Oh!"  shouted  Mr.  Pryor,  slamming  the  money  on 
the  table.  "Poor  drivel  to  fit  the  circumstances.  If 
I  stood  in  your  boots,  sir,  I  would  rise  up  in  the  mighty 
strength  of  my  pride  and  pull  out  foundation  stones  until 
I  shook  the  nation!  I  never  envied  mortal  man  as  I 
envy  you  to-day!" 


"EVEN  SO"  249 

Candace  cried  out:  "Oh  look,  his  poor  feet!  They 
are  blistered  and  bleeding!" 

Mother  moved  down  a  little,  gathered  them  in  her 
arms,  and  began  kissing  them.  Father  wet  Leon's  lips 
and  arose.     He  held  out  his  hand,  and  Mr.  Pryor  took  it. 

"I  will  pray  God,"  he  said,  "that  it  may  happen  'even 
so'  to  you." 

Leon  opened  his  eyes  and  caught  only  the  last  words. 

"You  had  better  look  out  for  the  'Even  So's,'  father," 
he  said. 

And  father  had  to  laugh,  but  Mr.  Pryor  went  out,  and 
slammed  the  door,  until  I  looked  to  see  if  it  had  cracked 
from  top  to  bottom;  but  we  didn't  care  if  it  had,  we  were 
so  happy  over  having  Leon  back. 

I  went  and  picked  up  the  money  and  carried  it  to  father 
to  put  away,  and  that  time  he  took  it.  But  even  then 
he  didn't  stop  to  see  if  he  had  all  of  it. 

"  You  see ! "  I  said,  "  I  told  you " 

"You  did  indeed!"  said  father.  "And  you  almost 
saved  our  reason.  There  are  times  when  things  we  have 
come  to  feel  we  can't  live  without,  so  press  us,  that  money 
seems  of  the  greatest  importance.  This  is  our  lesson. 
Hereafter,  I  and  all  my  family,  who  have  been  through 
this,  will  know  that  money  is  not  even  worth  thinking 
about  when  the  life  and  honour  of  one  you  love  hangs  in 
the  balance.  When  he  can  understand,  your  brother  shall 
know  of  the  wondrous  faith  his  Little  Sister  had  in  him." 

"Maybe  he  won't  like  what  you  and  mother  thought. 
Maybe  we  better  not  tell  him.  I  can  keep  secrets  real 
well.     I   have  several  big  ones   I've  never  told,   and   I 


250  LADDIE 

didn't  say  a  word  about  the  Station  when  Leon  said  I 
shouldn't." 

"After  this  there  will  be  no  money  kept  on  the  place," 
said  father.  "It's  saving  time  at  too  great  cost.  All 
we  have  goes  into  the  bank,  and  some  of  us  will  cheerfully 
ride  for  what  we  want,  when  we  need  it.  As  for  not 
telling  Leon,  that  is  as  your  mother  decides.  For  myself, 
I  believe  I'd  feel  better  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it." 

Mother  heard,  for  she  sobbed  as  she  bathed  Leon's 
feet,  and  when  his  eyes  came  open  so  they'd  stay  a  little 
while,  he  kept  looking  at  her  so  funny,  between  sips  of 
hot  milk. 

"Don't  cry,  mammy!"  he  said.  "I'm  all  right.  Sorry 
such  a  rumpus!  Let  him  fool  me.  Be  smart  as  the  next 
fellow,  after  this!  Know  how  glad  you  are  to  get  the 
money!" 

Mother  sat  back  on  her  heels  and  roared  as  I  do  when 
I  step  in  a  bumblebee's  nest,  and  they  get  me.  Leon 
was  growing  better  every  minute,  and  he  stared  at  her, 
and  then  his  dealish,  funny  old  grin  began  to  twist  his 
lips  and  he  cried:  "Oh  golly!  You  thought  /  helped 
take  it  and  went  with  him,  didn't  you?" 

"Oh  my  son,  my  son!"  wailed  mother  until  she  made 
me  think  of  Absalom  under  the  oak. 

"Well,  I  be  ding-busted!"  said  Leon,  sort  of  slow  and 
wondering-like,  and  father  never  opened  his  head  to  tell 
him  that  was  no  way  to  talk. 

Mother  cried  more  than  ever,  and  between  sobs  she 
tried  to  explain  that  I  heard  what  the  traveller  man  had 
said  about  how  bad  it  was  to  live  in  the  country;  and 


"EVEN  SO"  251 

how  Leon  was  now  at  an  age  where  she'd  known  boys  to 
get  wrong  ideas,  and  how  things  looked,  and  in  the  middle 
of  it  he  raised  on  his  elbow  and  took  her  in  his  arms  and 
said:  "Well  of  all  the  geese!  And  I  'spose  father  was 
in  it  too!     But  since  it's  the  first  time,  and  since  it  is 

you !     Go  to  bed  now,  and  let  me  sleep But 

see  that  you  don't  ever  let  this  happen  again." 

Then  he  kissed  her  over  and  over  and  clung  to  her 
tight  and  at  last  dropped  back  and  groaned: 

"My  reputation,  0  my  reputation  I 
I've  lost  my  reputation!" 

She  had  to  laugh  while  the  tears  were  still  running, 
and  father  and  Laddie  looked  at  each  other  and  shouted. 
I  guess  they  thought  Leon  was  about  right  after  that. 
Laddie  went  and  bent  over  him  and  took  his  hand. 

"Don't  be  in  quite  such  a  hurry,  old  man,"  he  said. 
"Before  you  wink  out  I  have  got  to  tell  you  how  proud 
I  am  of  having  a  brother  who  is  a  real  Crusader.  The 
Lord  knows  this  took  nerve!  You're  great,  boy,  simply 
great!" 

Leon  grabbed  Laddie's  hand  with  both  of  his  and* 
held  tight  and  laughed.  You  could  see  the  big  tears 
squeeze  out,  although  he  fought  to  wink  them  back. 
He  held  to  Laddie  and  said  lowlike,  only  for  him  to  hear: 
"It's  all  right  if  you  stay  by  a  while,  old  man." 

He  began  to  talk  slowly. 

"It  was  a  long  time  before  I  caught  up,  and  then  I 
had  to  hide,  and  follow  until  day,  and  he  wasn't  so  very 
easy  to  handle.     Once  I  thought  he  had  me  sure!     It 


252  LADDIE 

was  an  awful  load,  but  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  good  old 
gun,  I'd  never  have  got  him.  When  we  mixed  up,  I  had 
fine  luck  getting  that  chin  punch  on  him;  good  thing  I 
worked  it  out  so  slick  on  Absalom  Saunders,  and  while  old 
Even  So  was  groggy  I  got  the  money  away  from  him,  took 
the  gun,  and  stood  back  some  distance,  before  he  came 
out  of  it.  Once  we  had  it  settled  who  walked  ahead,  and 
who  carried  the  money  and  gun,  we  got  along  better,  but 
I  had  to  keep  an  eye  on  him  every  minute.  To  come 
through  the  woods  was  the  shortest,  but  I'm  tired  out, 
and  so  is  he.  Getting  close  I  most  felt  sorry  for  him,  he 
was  so  forlorn,  and  so  scared  about  what  would  be  done  to 
him.  He  stopped  and  pulled  out  another  roll,  and  offered 
me  all  of  it,  if  I'd  let  him  go.  I  didn't  know  whether  it  was 
really  his,  or  part  of  father's,  so  I  told  him  he  could  just 
drop  it  until  I  found  out.  Made  him  sweat  blood,  but 
I  had  the  gun,  and  he  had  to  mind.  I  was  master  then. 
So  there  may  be  more  in  the  roll  I  gave  father  than  Even 
So  took.  Father  can  figure  up  and  keep  what  belongs 
to  him.  Even  So  had  gone  away  past  Flannigans'  before 
I  tackled  him,  and  I  was  sleepy,  cold,  and  hungry;  you'd 
have  thought  there'd  have  been  a  man  out  hunting,  or 
passing  on  the  road,  but  not  a  soul  did  we  see  'til  Pryors' ! 
Say,  the  old  man  was  bully!  He  helped  me  so,  I  almost 
thought  I  belonged  to  him!  My!  he's  fine,  when  you 
know  him!  After  he  came  on  the  job,  you  bet  old 
Even  So  walked  up.  Say,  where  is  he?  Have  you  fed 
him?" 

Laddie  looked   at  father,  who  was  listening,  and  we 
all  rushed  to  the  door,  but  it  must  have  been  an  hour, 


"EVEN  SO"  253 

and  Even  So  hadn't  waited.  Father  said  it  was  a  great 
pity,  because  a  man  like  that  shouldn't  be  left  to  prey  on 
the  community;  but  mother  said  she  didn't  want  to  be 
mixed  up  with  a  trial,  or  to  be  responsible  for  taking  the 
liberty  of  a  fellow  creature,  and  father  said  that  was  ex- 
actly like  a  woman.  Leon  went  to  sleep,  but  none  of  us 
thought  of  going  to  bed;  we  just  stood  around  and  looked 
at  him,  and  smiled  over  him,  and  cried  about  him,  until 
you  would  have  thought  he  had  been  shipped  to  us  in  a 
glass  case,  and  cost,  maybe,  a  hundred  dollars. 

Father  got  out  his  books  and  figured  up  his  own  and 
the  road  money,  and  Miss  Amelia's,  and  the  church's. 
Laddie  didn't  want  her  around,  so  he  stopped  at  the 
schoolhouse  and  told  her  to  stay  at  Justices'  that  night, 
we'd  need  all  our  rooms;  bet  she  didn't  like  being  sent 
away  when  there  was  such  excitement,  but  every  one 
minded  Laddie  when  he  said  so  for  sure. 

When  father  had  everything  counted  there  was  more 
than  his,  quite  a  lot  of  it,  stolen  from  other  people  who 
sheltered  the  traveller  no  doubt,  father  said.  We  thought 
he  wouldn't  be  likely  to  come  back  for  it,  and  father  said 
he  was  at  loss  what  to  do  with  it,  but  Laddie  said  he 
wasn't — it  was  Leon's — he  had  earned  it;  so  father  said 
he  would  try  to  find  out  if  anything  else  had  been  stolen, 
and  he'd  keep  it  a  year,  and  then  if  no  one  claimed  it,  he 
would  put  it  on  interest  until  Leon  decided  what  he 
wanted  to  do  with  it. 

When  you  watched  Leon  sleep  you  could  tell  a  lot 
more  about  what  had  happened  to  him  than  he  could. 
He  moaned,  and  muttered  constantly,  and  panted,  and 


254  LADDIE 

felt  around  for  the  gun,  and  breathed  like  he  was  running 
again,  and  fought  until  Laddie  had  to  hold  him  on  the 
couch,  and  finally  awakened  him.  But  it  did  no  good; 
he  went  right  off"  to  sleep  again,  and  it  happened  all 
over.  Then  father  began  getting  his  Crusader  blood 
up,  although  he  always  said  he  was  a  man  of  peace.  But 
it  was  a  lucky  thing  Even  So  got  away;  for  after  father  had 
watched  Leon  a  while,  he  said  if  that  man  had  been  on 
the  premises,  his  fingers  itched  so  to  get  at  him,  he  was 
positive  he'd  have  vented  a  little  righteous  indignation 
on  him  that  would  have  cost  him  within  an  inch  of  his  life. 
And  he'd  have  done  it  too!  He  was  like  that.  It  took 
a  lot,  and  it  was  slow  coming,  but  when  he  became 
angry  enough,  and  felt  justified  in  it,  why  you'd  be  much 
safer  to  be  some  one  else  than  the  man  who  provoked 
him. 

After  ten  o'clock  the  dog  barked,  some  one  tapped., 
and  father  went;  he  always  would  open  the  door;  you 
couldn't  make  him  pretend  he  was  asleep,  or  not  at 
home  when  he  was,  and  there  stood  Mr.  Pryor.  He 
said  they  could  see  the  lights  and  they  were  afraid  the 
boy  was  ill,  and  could  any  of  them  help.  Father  said 
there  was  nothing  they  could  do;  Leon  was  asleep.  Then 
Mr.  Pryor  said:  "If  he  is  off  sound,  so  it  won't  disturb 
him,  I  would  like  to  see  him  again." 

Father  told  him  Leon  was  restless,  but  so  exhausted 
a  railroad  train  wouldn't  waken  him,  so  Mr.  Pryor  came 
in  and  went  to  the  couch.  He  took  off  his  hat,  like  you 
do  beside  a  grave,  while  his  face  slowly  grew  whiter  than 
his  hair,  and  that  would  be  snow-white;  then  he  turned 


"EVEN  SO"  255 

at  last  and  stumbled  toward  the  door.  Laddie  held  it  for 
him,  but  he  didn't  seem  to  remember  he  was  there.  He 
muttered  over  and  over:  "Why?  Why?  In  the  name  of 
God,  why?"  Laddie  followed  to  the  gate  to  help  him  on 
his  horse,  because  he  thought  he  was  almost  out  of  his 
head,  but  he  had  walked  across  the  fields,  so  Laddie  kept 
far  behind  and  watched  until  he  saw  him  go  safely  inside 
his  own  door. 

I  think  father  and  Laddie  sat  beside  Leon  all  night. 
The  others  went  to  sleep.  A  little  after  daybreak,  just 
as  Laddie  was  starting  to  feed,  there  was  an  awful  clam- 
our, and  here  came  a  lot  of  neighbours  with  Even  So. 
Mr.  Freshett  had  found  him  asleep  in  a  cattle  hole  in  the 
straw  stack,  and  searched  him,  and  he  had  more  money, 
and  that  made  Mr.  Freshett  sure;  and  as  he  was  very 
strong,  and  had  been  for  years  a  soldier,  and  really  loved 
to  fight,  he  marched  poor  Even  So  back  to  our  house. 
Every  few  rods  they  met  more  men  out  searching  who 
came  with  them,  until  there  were  so  many,  our  front  yard 
and  the  road  were  crowded.  Of  all  the  sights  you  ever 
saw,  Even  So  looked  the  worst.  You  could  see  that  he'd 
drop  over  at  much  more.  Those  men  kept  crying  they 
were  going  to  hang  him;  but  mother  went  out  and  talked 
to  them,  and  said  they  mustn'tjdll  a  man  for  taking  only 
money.  She  told  them  how  little  it  was  worth  compared 
with  other  things;  she  had  Candace  bring  Even  So  a  cup 
of  hot  coffee,  lots  of  bread,  and  sausage  from  the  skillet, 
and  she  said  it  was  our  money,  and  our  lad,  and  we  wanted 
nothing  done  about  it.  The  men  didn't  like  it,  but  the 
traveller  did.     He  grabbed  and  gobbled  like  a  beast  at  the 


256  LADDIE 

hot  food  and  cried,  and  mother  said  she  forgave  him,  and 
to  let  him  go. 

Then  Mr.  Freshett  looked  awful  disappointed,  and 
he  came  up  to  father,  with  his  back  toward  mother,  and 
asked:  "That's  your  say  too,  Mr.  Stanton?"  Father 
grinned  sort  of  rueful-like,  but  he  said  to  give  Even  So 
his  money  and  let  him  go.  He  told  all  about  getting 
ours  back,  and  having  had  him  at  the  house  once  before. 
He  brought  the  money  Leon  took  from  him,  but  the  men 
said  no  doubt  he  had  stolen  that,  and  Leon  had  earned 
it  bringing  him  back,  so  the  traveller  shouldn't  have 
it.  They  took  him  away  on  a  horse  and  said  they'd 
let  him  go,  but  that  they'd  escort  him  from  the  county. 
Father  told  Mr.  Freshett  that  he  was  a  little  suspicious 
of  them,  and  he  would  hold  him  responsible  for  the  man's 
life.  Mr.  Freshett  said  that  he'd  give  his  word  that  the 
man  would  be  safe;  they  only  wanted  to  make  sure  he 
wouldn't  come  back,  and  that  he'd  be  careful  in  the  future 
how  he  abused  hospitality,  so  they  went,  and  all  of  us 
were  glad  of  it. 

I  don't  know  what  Mr.  Freshett  calls  safe,  for  they 
took  Even  So  to  Groveville  and  locked  him  up  until 
night.  Then  they  led  him  to  the  railroad,  and  made 
him  crawl  back  and  forth  through  an  old  engine  beside 
the  track,  until  he  was  blacker  than  any  negro  ever  born; 
and  then  they  had  him  swallow  a  big  dose  of  croton  oil 
for  his  health.  That  was  the  only  kind  thing  they  did, 
for  afterward  they  started  him  down  the  track  and  told 
him  to  run,  and  all  of  them  shot  at  his  feet  as  he  went. 
Hannah  Freshett  told  me  at  school  the  next  day.     Her 


"EVEN  SO"  257 

father  said  Even  So  just  howled,  and  flew  up  in  the  airf 
and  ducked,  and  dodged  and  ran  like  he'd  never  walked 
a  step,  or  was  a  bit  tired.  We  made  a  game  of  it,  and 
after  that  one  of  the  boys  was  Even  So,  and  the  others 
were  the  mob,  and  the  one  who  could  howl  nicest,  jump 
highest,  and  go  fastest,  could  be  "It"  oftenest. 

Leon  grew  all  right  faster  than  you  would  think.  He 
went  to  school  day  after  next,  and  the  boys  were  sick  with 
envy.  They  asked  and  asked,  but  Leon  wouldn't  tell 
much.  He  didn't  seem  to  like  to  talk  about  it,  and  he 
wouldn't  play  the  game  or  even  watch  us.  He  talked  a 
blue  streak  about  the  money.  Father  was  going  to  write 
to  every  sheriff  of  the  counties  along  the  way  the  man  said 
he  had  come,  and  if  he  could  find  no  one  before  spring 
who  had  been  robbed,  he  said  Leon  might  do  what  he 
liked  with  the  money.  I  used  to  pretend  it  was  coming 
to  me,  and  each  day  I  thought  of  a  new  way  to  spend  it. 
Leon  was  so  sure  he'd  get  it  he  marched  right  over  and 
asked  Mr.  Pryor  about  a  nice  young  thoroughbred  horse, 
from  his  stables,  and  when  he  came  back  he  could  get  a 
coltlike  one  so  very  cheap  that  father  and  Laddie  looked 
at  each  other  and  gasped,  and  never  said  a  word.  They 
figured  up,  and  if  Leon  got  the  money,  he  could  have  the 
horse,  and  save  some  for  college,  and  from  the  start  he 
never  changed  a  mite  about  those  two  things  he  wanted  to 
do  with  it.  He  had  the  horse  picked  out  and  went  to  the 
field  to  feed  and  pet  it  and  make  it  gentle,  so  he  could  ride 
bareback,  and  mother  said  he  would  be  almost  sick  if  the 
owner  of  the  money  turned  up. 

Pulling  his  boots  one  night,  father  said  so  too,  and  that 


258  LADDIE 

the  thoughts  of  it  worried  him.  He  said  Mr.  Pryor  had 
shaded  his  price  so  that  if  the  money  had  to  go,  he  would 
be  tempted  to  see  if  we  couldn't  manage  it  ourselves.  I 
don't  know  how  shading  the  price  of  a  horse  would  make 
her  feel  better,  but  it  did,  and  maybe  Leon  is  going  to  get 
it. 


CHAPTER  X 
Laddie  Takes  the  Plunge 

This  is  the  state  of  man:  to-day  he  puts  forth 
The  tender  leaves  of  hopes;  to-morrow  blossoms, 
And  bears  his  blushing  honors  thick  upon  him; 
The  third  day  comes  a  frost,  a  killing  frost, 
And,  when  he  thinks,  good,  easy  man,  full  surely 
His  greatness  is  a-ripening.  nips  his  root, 
And  then  he  falls,  as  I  do." 

WATCH  me  take  the  plunge ! "  said  Laddie. 
"'Mad  frenzy  fires  him  now,'  "  quoted  Leon. 
It  was  Sunday  after  dinner.  We  had  been 
to  church  and  Sunday-school  in  the  forenoon,  and  we  had 
a  houseful  of  company  for  dinner.  All  of  them  remained 
to  spend  the  afternoon,  because  in  our  home  it  was  per- 
fectly lovely  We  had  a  big  dinner  with  everything  good 
to  start  on,  and  then  we  talked  and  visited  and  told  all 
the  news.  The  women  exchanged  new  recipes  for  cook- 
ing, advised  each  other  about  how  to  get  more  work  done 
with  less  worry,  to  doctor  their  sick  folks,  and  to  make 
their  dresses.  At  last,  when  everything  was  talked  over, 
and  there  began  to  be  a  quiet  time,  father  would  reach 
across  the  table,  pick  up  a  paper  and  read  all  the  interesting 
things  that  had  happened  in  the  country  during  the  past 
week;  the  jokes  too,  and  they  made  people  think  of  funny 
stories  to  tell,  and  we  just  laughed.     In  the  Agriculturist 

259 


260  LADDIE 

there  were  new  ways  to  farm  easier,  to  make  land  bear 
more  crops;  so  he  divided  that  with  the  neighbours,  also 
how  to  make  gardens,  and  prune  trees.  Before  he  finished, 
he  always  managed  to  work  in  a  lot  about  being  honest, 
kind,  and  loving  God. 

He  and  mother  felt  so  good  over  Leon,  and  by  this  time 
they  were  beginning  to  see  that  they  were  mighty  glad 
about  the  money  too.  It  wouldn't  have  been  so  easy  to 
work,  and  earn,  and  pay  back  all  that  for  our  school, 
roads,  and  the  church;  and  every  day  you  could  see  plainer 
how  happy  they  felt  that  they  didn't  have  to  do  it.  Be- 
cause they  were  so  glad  about  these  things,  they  invited 
every  one  they  met  that  day;  but  we  knew  Saturday 
mother  felt  that  probably  she  would  ask  a  crowd,  from 
the  chickens,  pie,  and  cake  she  got  ready.  When  the 
reading  part  was  over,  and  the  women  were  beginning 
to  look  at  the  clock,  and  you  knew  they  felt  they  should 
go  home,  and  didn't  want  to,  Laddie  arose  and  said  that, 
and  Leon  piped  up  like  he  always  does  and  made  every 
one  laugh.  Of  course  they  looked  at  Laddie,  and  no  one 
knew  what  he  meant,  so  all  the  women  and  a  few  of  the 
men  asked  him. 

"Watch  me,  I  said,"  laughed  Laddie  as  he  left  the  room. 

Soon  Mrs.  Dover,  sitting  beside  the  front  window, 
cried:     "Here  he  is  at  the  gate!" 

He  was  on  his  horse,  but  he  hitched  it  and  went  around 
the  house  and  up  the  back  way.  Before  long  the  stair 
door  of  the  sitting-room  opened,  and  there  he  stood.  We 
stared  at  him.  Of  course  he  was  bathed,  and  in  clean 
clothing  to  start  with,  but  he  had  washed  and  brushed 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  261 

some  more,  until  he  shone.  His  cheeks  were  as  smooth 
and  as  clear  pink  as  any  girl's,  his  eyes  blue-gray  and  big, 
with  long  lashes  and  heavy  brows.  His  hair  was  bright 
brown  and  wavy,  and  he  was  so  big  and  broad.  He  never 
had  been  sick  a  day  in  his  life,  and  he  didn't  look  as  if  he 
ever  would  be. 

And  clothes  do  make  a  difference.  He  would  have  had 
exactly  the  same  hair,  face,  and  body,  wearing  a  hickory 
shirt  and  denim  trousers;  but  he  wouldn't  have  looked  as 
he  did  in  the  clothes  he  wore  at  college,  when  it  was  Sun- 
day there,  or  he  was  invited  to  a  party  at  the  President's. 
I  don't  see  how  any  man  could  possibly  be  handsomer  or 
look  liner.  His  shirt,  collar,  and  cuffs  were  snow-white, 
like  everything  had  to  be  before  mother  got  through  with 
it;  his  big  loose  tie  almost  reached  his  shoulders;  and  our 
men  could  do  a  thing  no  other  man  in  the  neighbourhood 
did:  they  could  appear  easier  in  the  finest  suit  they  could 
put  on  than  in  their  working  clothes. 

Mother  used  to  say  one  thing  she  dreaded  about  Sunday 
was  the  evident  tortures  of  the  poor  men  squirming  in 
boots  she  knew  pinched  them,  coats  too  tight,  and  collars 
too  high.  She  said  they  acted  like  half-broken  colts 
fretting  over  restriction.  Always  she  said  to  father  and 
the  boys  when  they  went  to  buy  their  new  clothes :  "Now, 
don't  join  the  harness  fighters!  Get  your  clothing  big 
enough  to  set  your  bodies  with  comfort  and  ease." 

I  suppose  those  other  men  would  have  looked  like  ours 
if  their  mothers  had  told  them.  You  can  always  see  that 
a  man  needs  a  woman  to  help  him  out  awful  bad. 

Of  course   Laddie    knew   he   was   handsome;    he   had 


262  LADDIE 

to  know  all  of  them  were  looking  at  him  curiously,  but 
he  stood  there  buttoning  his  glove  and  laughing  to  him- 
self until  Sarah  Hood  asked:     "Now  what  are  you  up  to?" 

Fie  took  a  step  toward  her,  ran  one  hand  under  her 
lantern-jawed  chin,  pulled  her  head  against  his  side  and 
turned  up  her  face. 

"Sarah,"  he  said,  "'member  the  day  we  spoiled  the 
washing?" 

Every  one  laughed.  They  had  made  jokes  about  it 
until  our  friends  knew  what  they  meant. 

"What  are  you  going  to  spoil  now?"  asked  Sarah. 

"The  Egyptians!  The  'furriners,'  I'm  going  right 
after  them!" 

"Well,  you  could  be  in  better  business,"  said  Sarah 
Hood  sharply. 

Laddie  laughed  and  squeezed  her  chin,  and  hugged  her 
head  against  him. 

"Listen  to  that,  now!"  he  cried.  "My  best  friend 
going  back  on  me.  Sarah,  I  thought  you,  of  all  people, 
would  wish  me  luck." 

"I  do!"  she  said  instantly.  "And  that's  the  very 
reason  I  don't  want  you  mixed  up  with  that  mysterious, 
offish,  stuck-up  mess." 

"  Bless  your  dear  heart ! "  said  Laddie,  giving  her  a  harder 
squeeze  than  ever.  "You  got  that  all  wrong,  Sarah. 
You'll  live  to  see  the  day,  very  shortly,  when  you'll  change 
every  word  of  it." 

"I  haven't  done  anything  but  get  surer  about  it  every 
day  for  two  years,  anyway,"  said  Sarah  Hood. 

"Exactly!"  said  Laddie,  "but  wait  until  I  have  taken 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  263 

the  plunge!  Let  me  tell  you  how  the  Pryor  family  strikes 
me.  I  think  he  is  a  high-tempered,  domineering  man9 
proud  as  Lucifer!  For  some  cause,  just  or  not,  he  is 
ruining  his  life  and  that  of  his  family  because  he  so  firmly 
believes  it  just;  he  is  hiding  here  from  his  home  coun- 
try, his  relatives,  and  friends.  I  think  she  is,  barring  you 
and  mother,  the  handsomest  woman  of  her  age  I  eves 
saw 

All  of  them  laughed,  because  Sarah  Hood  was  nearly  as 
homely  as  a  woman  could  grow,  and  maybe  other  people 
didn't  find  our  mother  so  lovely  as  we  thought  her.  I 
once  heard  one  of  her  best  friends  say  she  was  "distinctly 
plain."     I  didn't  see  how  she  could;  but  she  said  that. 

" — and  the  most  pitiful,"  Laddie  went  on.  "Sarah„ 
what  do  you  suppose  sends  a  frail  little  woman  pacing 
the  yard,  and  up  and  down  the  road,  sometimes  in  storrrx 
and  rain,  gripping  both  hands  over  her  heart?" 

"I  suppose  it's  some  shameful  thing  I  don't  want  yoo 
mixed  up  with!"  said  Sarah  Hood  promptly,  and  oeople 
just  shouted. 

"Sarah,"  said  Laddie,  "I've  seen  her  closely,  watched 
her  move,  and  studied  her  expression.  There's  not  one 
grain  of  possibility  that  you,  or  mother,  or  Mrs.  Fall,  or 
any  woman  here,  could  be  any  closer  connected  with 
shame.  Shame  there  is,"  said  Laddie,  "and  what  a  word! 
How  it  stings,  burns,  withers,  and  causes  heart  trouble  and 
hiding;  but  shame  in  connection  with  that  woman,  more 
than  shame  thrust  upon  her,  which  might  come  to  any 
of  us,  at  any  time,  shame  that  is  her  error,  in  the  life  of  a 
woman  having  a  face  like  hers,  Sarah,  I  am  ashamed  ol 


264  LADDIE 

you!  Your  only  excuse  is  that  you  haven't  persisted  as 
I  have  until  you  got  to  see  for  yourself." 

"I  am  not  much  on  persistence  in  the  face  of  a  locked 
door,  a  cast-iron  man  with  a  big  cane,  and  two  raving 
bulldogs,"  said  Mrs.  Hood.  "Wait,  young  man!  Just 
wait  until  he  sets  them  on  you." 

Laddie's  head  went  back  and  how  he  laughed. 

"Hist!  A  word  with  you,  Sarah!"  he  said.  "'Mem- 
ber I  have  a  sort  of  knack  with  animals.  I  never  yet 
have  failed  with  one  I  undertook  to  win.  Now  those  bull- 
dogs of  Pryors'  are  as  mild  as  kittens  with  a  man  who 
knows  the  right  word.  Reason  I  know,  Sarah,  I've  said 
the  word  to  them,  separately  and  collectively,  and  it 
worked.  There  is  a  contrast,  Sarah,  between  what  I  say 
and  do  to  those  dogs,  and  the  kicks  and  curses  they  get 
from  their  owner.  I'll  wager  you  two  to  one  that  if  you 
can  get  Mr.  Pryor  to  go  into  a  'sic-ing'  contest  with  me,  I 
can  have  his  own  dogs  at  his  throat,  when  he  can't  make 
them  do  more  than  to  lick  my  hands." 

They  laughed  as  if  that  were  funny. 

"Well,  I  didn't  know  about  this,"  said  Sarah.  "How 
long  have  you  lived  at  Pryors'  ? " 

You  couldn't  have  heard  what  Laddie  said  if  he'd 
spoken;  so  he  waited  until  he  could  be  heard,  and  it  never 
worried  him  a  speck.  He  only  stood  and  laughed  too; 
then,  "Long  enough,"  he  said,  "to  know  that  all  of  us  are 
making  a  big  and  a  cruel  mistake  in  taking  them  at  their 
word,  and  leaving  them  penned  up  there  weltering  in 
misery.  What  we  should  do,  is  to  go  over  there,  one  at  a 
*ime,  or  in  a  body,  and  batter  at  the  door  of  their  hearts. 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  265 

until  we  break  down  the  wall  of  pride  they  have  built 
around  them,  ease  their  pain,  and  bring  them  with  us 
socially,  if  they  are  going  to  live  among  us.  You  people 
who  talk  loudly  and  often  about  loving  God,  and  'doing 
unto  others,'  should  have  gone  long  ago,  for  Jesus'  sake; 
I'm  going  for  the  sake  of  a  girl,  with  a  face  as  sweet,  and  a 
heart  as  pure,  as  any  accepted  angel  at  the  foot  of  the 
throne.  Mother,  I  want  a  cup  of  peach  jelly,  and  some 
of  that  exceptionally  fine  cake  you  served  at  dinner,  to 
take  to  our  sick  neighbour." 

Mother  left  the  room. 

"Father,  I  want  permission  to  cut  and  carry  a  generous 
chestnut  branch,  burred,  and  full  fruited,  to  the  young 
woman.  There  is  none  save  ours  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  she  may  never  have  seen  any,  and  be  inter- 
ested. And  I  want  that  article  about  foot  disease  in 
horses,  for  Mr.  Pryor.     I'll  bring  it  back  when  he  finishes." 

Father  folded  the  paper  and  handed  it  to  Laddie,  who 
slipped  it  in  his  pocket. 

"Take  the  finest  branch  you  can  select,"  father  said, 
and  I  almost  fell  over. 

He  had  carried  those  trees  from  Ohio,  before  I  had  been 
born,  and  mother  said  for  years  he  wrapped  them  in  her 
shawl  in  winter  and  held  an  umbrella  over  them  in  sum- 
mer, and  father  always  went  red  and  grinned  when  she 
told  it.  He  was  wild  about  trees,  and  bushes,  so  he  made 
up  his  mind  he'd  have  chestnuts.  He  planted  them  one 
place,  and  if  they  didn't  like  it,  he  dug  them  up  and  set 
them  another  where  he  thought  they  could  have  what  they 
needed  and  hadn't  got  the  last  place.     Finally,  he  put 


266  LADDIE 

them,  on  the  fourth  move,  on  a  little  sandy  ridge  across 
the  road  from  the  wood  yard,  and  that  was  the  spot.  They 
shot  up,  branched,  spread,  and  one  was  a  male  and  two 
were  females,  so  the  pollen  flew,  the  burrs  filled  right,  and 
we  had  a  bag  of  chestnuts  to  send  each  child  away  from 
home,  every  Christmas.  The  brown  leaves  and  burrs 
were  so  lovely,  mother  cut  one  of  the  finest  branches  she 
could  select  and  hung  it  above  the  steel  engraving  of 
"Lincoln  Freeing  the  Slaves,"  in  the  boys'  room,  and 
nothing  in  the  house  was  looked  at  oftener,  or  thought 
prettier.  That  must  have  been  what  was  in  the  back  of 
Laddie's  head  when  he  wanted  a  branch  for  the  Princess. 

Mother  came  in  with  the  cake  and  jelly  in  a  little  fanc}^ 
basket,  and  Laddie  said:  "Thank  you!  Now  every  one 
wish  me  luck!  I'm  going  to  ride  to  Pryors',  knock  at  the 
door,  and  present  these  offerings  with  my  compliments. 
If  I'm  invited  in,  I'm  going  to  make  the  effort  of  my  life 
at  driving  the  entering  wedge  toward  social  intercourse 
between  Pryors  and  their  neighbours.  If  I'm  not,  I'll 
be  back  in  thirty  minutes  and  tell  you  what  happened  to 
me.  If  they  refuse  my  gifts,  you  shall  have  the  jelly, 
Sarah;  I'll  give  Mrs.  Fall  the  olive  branch,  bring  back  the 
paper,  and  eat  the  cake  to  console  my  wounded  spirits." 

Of  course  every  one  laughed;  they  couldn't  help  it.  I 
watched  father  and  he  laughed  hardest  of  the  men,  but 
mother  was  more  stiff-lipped  about  it;  she  couldn't  help 
a  little,  though.  And  I  noticed  some  of  those  women  acted 
as  if  they  had  lost  something.  Maybe  it  was  a  chance  to 
gossip  about  Laddie,  for  he  hadn't  left  them  a  thing  to 
guess  at,  and  mother  says  the  reason  gossip  is  so  dreadful 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  267 

is  because  it  is  always  guesswork.  Well,  that  was  all  fair 
and  plain.  He  had  told  those  people,  our  very  best  friends, 
what  he  thought  about  everything,  the  way  they  acted 
included.  He  was  carrying  something  to  each  member 
of  the  Pryor  family,  and  he'd  left  a  way  to  return  jok- 
ing and  unashamed,  if  they  wouldn't  let  him  in.  He  had 
fixed  things  so  no  one  had  anything  to  guess  at,  and  it 
would  look  much  worse  for  the  Pryors  than  it  would  for 
him,  if  he  did  come  back. 

I  wondered  if  he  had  been  born  that  smart,  or  if  he 
learned  it  in  college.  If  he  did,  no  wonder  Leon  was 
bound  to  go.  Come  to  think  of  it,  though,  mother  said 
Laddie  was  always  like  that.  She  said  he  never  bit  her 
when  he  nursed;  he  never  mauled  her  as  if  she  couldn't  be 
hurt  when  he  was  little,  he  never  tore  his  clothes  and  made 
extra  work  as  he  grew,  and  never  in  his  life  gave  her  an 
hour's  uneasiness.  But  I  guess  she  couldn't  have  said 
that  about  uneasiness  lately,  for  she  couldn't  keep  from 
looking  troubled  as  all  of  us  followed  to  the  gate  to  see 
him  start. 

How  they  joked,  and  tried  to  tease  him!  But  they 
couldn't  get  a  breath  ahead.  He  shot  back  answers  as 
fast  as  they  could  ask  questions,  while  he  cut  the  branch 
and  untied  the  horse.  He  gave  the  limb  and  basket  to 
mother  to  hold,  kissed  her  good-bye,  and  me  too,  before 
he  mounted.  With  my  arms  around  his  neck — I  never 
missed  a  chance  to  try  to  squeeze  into  him  how  I  loved 
him— -I  whispered:  "Laddie,  is  it  a  secret  any  more?" 

He  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed  the  happiest. 

"Not  the  ghost  of  a  secret!"  he  said.     "But  you  let 


268  LADDIE 

me  do  the  talking,  until  I  tell  you."  Then  he  went  on 
right  out  loud :  "  I'm  riding  up  the  road  waving  the  banner 
of  peace.  If  I  suffer  repulse,  the  same  thing  has  hap- 
pened to  better  men  before,  so  I'll  get  a  different  banner 
and  try  again." 

Laddie  mounted,  swept  a  circle  in  the  road,  dropped 
Flos  on  her  knees  in  a  bow,  and  waved  the  branch.  Leon 
began  to  sing  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "Nothing  but  leaves, 
nothing  but  leaves,"  while  Laddie  went  flashing  up  the 
road. 

The  women  went  back  to  the  house;  the  men  stood 
around  the  gate,  watched  him  from  sight,  talked  about  his 
horse,  how  he  rode,  and  made  wagers  that  he'd  get  shut 
out,  like  every  one  did,  but  they  said  if  that  happened  he 
wouldn't  come  back.     Father  was  annoyed. 

"You  heard  Laddie  say  he'd  return  immediately  if 
they  wouldn't  let  him  in,"  he  said.  "He's  a  man  of  his 
word.     Lie  will  either  enter  or  come  home  at  once." 

It  was  pitch  dark  and  we  had  supper  before  some  of 
them  left;  they  never  stayed  so  late.  After  we  came  from 
church,  father  read  the  chapter  and  we  were  ready  for 
bed;  still  Laddie  hadn't  come  back.  And  father  liked  it! 
He  just  plain  liked  it!  He  chuckled  behind  the  Advocate 
until  you  could  see  it  shake;  but  mother  had  very  little 
to  say,  and  her  lips  closed  tight. 

At  bedtime  he  said  to  mother:  "Well,  they  don't  seem 
in  a  hurry  about  sending  the  boy  back." 

"Did  you  really  think  he  would  be  sent  back?"  asked 
mother. 

"Not  ordinarily,"  said  father,  "no!    If  he  had  no  brain, 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  269 

no  wit,  and  no  culture,  on  an  animal  basis,  a  woman  would 
look  twice  before  she'd  send  him  away;  but  with  such 
fanatics  as  Pryors,  one  can't  always  tell  what  will  happen." 

"In  a  case  like  this,  one  can  be  reasonably  certain," 
said  mother. 

"You  don't  know  what  social  position  they  occupied 
at  home.  Their  earmarks  are  all  good.  We've  no  such 
notions  here  as  they  have." 

"Thank  God  for  so  much,  at  any  rate,"  said  mother. 
"How  old  England  would  rise  up  and  exult  if  she  had  a 
man  in  line  with  Laddie's  body,  blood  and  brain,  to  set 
on  her  throne.  This  talk  about  class  and  social  position 
makes  me  sick.  Men  are  men,  and  Laddie  is  as  much 
above  the  customary  timber  found  in  kings  and  princes, 
physically  and  mentally,  as  the  sky  is  above  earth.  Talk 
me  no  talk  about  class!  If  I  catch  it  coming  from  any  of 
mine,  save  you,  I  will  beat  it  out  of  them.  He  has  ad- 
mitted he's  in  love  with  the  girl;  the  real  question  is, 
whether  she's  fit  to  be  his  wife." 

"I  should  say  she  appears  so,"  said  father. 

"Drat  appearances!"  cried  mother.  "When  it's  a 
question  of  lifetime  misery,  and  the  soul's  salvation  of 
my  son,  if  things  go  wrong,  I've  no  time  for  appearances. 
I  want  to  know!" 

He  might  have  known  he  would  make  her  angry  when  he 
laughed.  She  punched  the  pillow,  and  wouldn't  say  another 
word;  so  I  went  to  sleep,  and  didn't  miss  anything  that  time. 

Next  morning  at  breakfast  Laddie  was  beaming,  and 
father  hardly  waited  to  ask  the  blessing  before  he  in- 
quired:    "Well,  how  did  you  make  it,  son?" 


270  LADDIE 

Laddie  laughed  and  answered:  "Altogether,  it  might 
have  been  much  worse." 

That  was  all  he  would  say  until  Miss  Amelia  started  to 
school,  then  he  took  me  on  his  lap  and  talked  as  he  but- 
toned my  coat. 

"Thomas  met  me  at  the  gate,"  he  said,  "and  held  my 
horse  while  I  went  to  the  door.  One  of  their  women 
opened  it,  and  I  inquired  for  Mr.  Pryor.  She  said  he  was 
in  the  field  looking  at  the  horses,  so  I  asked  for  Miss 
Pryor.  She  came  in  a  minute,  so  I  gave  her  the  branch, 
told  her  about  it,  and  offered  the  jelly  and  cake  for  her 
mother.  The  Princess  invited  me  to  enter.  I  told  her  I 
couldn't  without  her  father's  permission,  so  I  went  to  the 
field  to  see  him.  The  dogs  were  with  him  and  he  had  the 
surprise  of  his  life  when  his  man-eaters  rolled  at  my  feet, 
and  licked  my  hands." 

"What  did  he  say?"  chuckled  father. 

"Told  Thomas  they'd  been  overfed  and  didn't  amount 
to  a  brass  farthing;  to  take  them  to  the  woods  and  shoot 
them.  Thomas  said  he'd  see  to  it  the  very  first  thing 
in  the  morning,  and  then  Mr.  Pryor  told  him  he  would 
shoot  him  if  he  did." 

"Charming  man  to  work  for,"  said  mother. 

"Then  I  told  him  I'd  been  at  the  house  to  carry  a  little 
gift  to  his  wife  and  daughter,  and  to  inquire  if  I  might 
visit  an  hour,  and  as  he  was  not  there,  I  had  come  to  the 
field  to  ask  him.  Then  I  looked  him  in  the  eye  and  said: 
'Mayl?' 

"Til  warrant  the  women  asked  you  to  come  in,'  he 
said. 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  271 

"'Miss  Pryor  was  so  kind,'  I  answered,  'but  I  enter  no 
man's  house  without  his  permission.  May  I  talk  with 
your  daughter  an  hour,  and  your  wife,  if  she  cares  to  see 
me?' 

"'It  makes  no  earthly  difference  to  me,'  he  said,  which 
was  not  gracious,  but  might  have  been  worse,  so  I  thanked 
him,  and  went  back  to  the  house.  When  I  knocked  the 
second  time,  the  Princess  came,  and  I  told  her  the  word 
was  that  it  made  'no  difference  to  her  father'  if  I  came  in, 
so  she  opened  the  door  widely,  took  my  hat  and  offered 
me  a  seat.  Then  she  went  to  the  next  room  and  said: 
'Mother,  father  has  given  Mr.  Stanton  permission  to  pay 
us  a  call.  Do  you  feel  able  to  meet  him?'  She  came  at 
once,  offering  her  hand  and  saying:  'I  have  already  met 
Mr.  Stanton  so  often,  really,  we  should  have  the  privilege 
of  speaking.'" 

"What  did  she  mean  by  that?"  asked  mother. 

"She  meant  that  I  have  haunted  the  road  passing  their 
place  for  two  years,  and  she'd  seen  me  so  frequently  that 
she  came  to  recognize  me." 

"Umph!"  said  mother. 

"Laddie  tell  on!"  I  begged. 

"Well,  I  sharpened  all  the  wits  I  had  and  went  to  work. 
I  never  tried  so  hard  in  my  life  to  be  entertaining.  Of 
course  I  had  to  feel  my  way.  I'd  no  idea  what  would 
interest  a  delicate,  highbred  lady" — mother  sniffed 
again — "so  I  had  to  search  and  probe,  and  go  by  guess 
until  I  saw  a  shade  of  interest,  then  I  worked  in  more  of 
the  same.  It  was  easy  enough  to  talk  to  the  Princess — all 
young  folks  have  a  lot  in  common,  we  could  get  along  on 


272  LADDIE 

fifty  topics;  it  was  different  with  the  housebound  mother. 
I  did  my  best,  and  after  a  while  Mr.  Pryor  came  in.  I 
asked  him  if  any  of  his  horses  had  been  attacked  with  the 
trouble  some  of  the  neighbours  were  having,  and  told  him 
what  it  was.  He  had  the  grace  to  thank  me.  He  said  he 
would  tell  Thomas  not  to  tie  his  horse  at  the  public  hitch- 
ing rack  when  he  went  to  town,  and  once  he  got  started,  he 
was  wild  to  talk  with  a  man,  and  I'd  no  chance  to  say  a 
word  to  the  women.  He  was  interested  in  our  colleges, 
state,  and  national  laws,  in  land  development,  and  every- 
thing that  all  live  men  are.  When  a  maid  announced  din- 
ner I  apologized  for  having  stayed  so  long,  and  excused 
myself,  because  I  had  been  so  interested,  but  Mrs.  Pryor 
merely  said:  'I'm  waiting  to  be  offered  your  arm.' 

"Well,  you  should  have  seen  me  drop  my  hat  and  step 
up.  I  did  my  best,  and  while  I  talked  to  him  a  little,  I 
made  it  most  to  the  women.  Any  one  could  see  they 
were  starved  for  company,  so  I  took  the  job  of  entertain- 
ing them.  I  told  some  college  jokes,  funny  things  that 
had  happened  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  everything  of 
interest  I  could  think  up.  I  know  we  were  at  the  table 
for  two  hours  with  things  coming  and  going  on  silver 
platters." 

Mother  sat  straight  suddenly. 

"Just  what  did  they  have  to  eat,  and  how  did  they 
serve  it?"  she  asked. 

"Couldn't  tell  if  I  were  to  be  shot  for  it,  mummy," 
said  Laddie.  "Forgive  me!  Next  time  I'll  take  notes 
for  you.  This  first  plunge,  I  had  to  use  all  my  brains, 
not  to  be  a  bore  to  them;  and  to  handle  food  and  cutlerv 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  273 

as  the  women  did.  It's  quite  a  process,  but  as  they  were 
served  first,  I  could  do  right  by  waiting.  I  never  was 
where  things  were  done  quite  so  elaborately  before." 

"And  they  didn't  know  they  would  have  company  until 
you  went  to  the  table?" 

"Well,  they  must  have  thought  likely,  there  was  a  place 
for  me." 

"Umph!"  said  mother.  "Fine  idea!  Then  any  one  who 
drops  in  can  be  served,  and  see  that  they  are  not  a  mite  of 
trouble.     Candace,  always  an  extra  place  after  this!" 

Father  just  shouted. 

"I  thought  you'd  get  something  out  of  it!"  he  said. 

"Happy  to  have  justified  your  faith!"  replied  mother 
calmly.     "Go  on,  son!" 

"That's  all!"  said  Laddie.  "We  left  the  table  and 
talked  an  hour  more.  The  women  asked  me  to  come 
again;  he  didn't  say  anything  on  that  subject;  but  when 
he  ordered  my  horse,  he  asked  the  Princess  if  she  would 
enjoy  a  little  exercise,  and  she  said  she  would,  so  he  told 
Thomas  to  bring  their  horses,  and  we  rode  around  the 
section,  the  Princess  and  I  ahead,  Mr.  Pryor  following. 
Where  the  road  was  good  and  the  light  fine  enough  that 
there  was  no  danger  of  laming  a  horse,  we  dropped  back, 
one  on  either  side  of  him,  so  we  could  talk.  Mrs.  Pryor 
ate  the  cake  and  said  it  was  fine;  and  the  'conserve,'  she 
called  it,  delicious  as  she  ever  had  tasted.  She  said  all 
our  fruits  here  had  much  more  flavour  than  at  home;  she 
thought  it  was  the  dryer  climate  and  more  sunshine.  She 
sent  her  grateful  thanks,  and  she  wants  your  recipe  before 
next  preserving  time." 


274  LADDIE 

Mother  just  beamed.  My!  but  she  did  love  to  have  the 
things  she  cooked,  bragged  on. 

"Possibly  she'd  like  my  strawberries?"  she  said. 

"There  isn't  a  doubt  about  it,"  said  Laddie.  "I've 
yet  to  see  the  first  person  who  doesn't." 

"Is  that  all?"  asked  mother. 

"I  can  think  of  nothing  more  at  this  minute,"  answered 
Laddie.  "If  anything  comes  to  my  mind  later,  I  won't 
forget  to  tell  you.  Oh  yes,  there  was  one  thing:  You 
couldn't  keep  Mr.  Pryor  from  talking  about  Leon.  He 
must  have  taken  a  great  fancy  to  him.  He  talked  until 
he  worried  the  Princess,  and  she  tried  to  keep  him  away 
from  the  subject,  but  his  mind  seemed  to  run  on  it  con- 
stantly. When  we  were  riding  she  talked  quite  as  much 
as  he,  and  it  will  hustle  us  to  think  what  the  little  scamp 
did,  any  bigger  than  they  do.  Of  course,  father,  you 
understood  the  price  Mr.  Pryor  made  on  one  of  his  very 
finest  colts  was  a  joke.  There's  a  strain  of  Arab  in  the 
father — he  showed  me  the  record — and  the  mother  is 
bluegrass.  There  you  get  gentleness  and  endurance  com- 
bined with  speed  and  nerve.  I'd  trade  Flos  for  that 
colt  as  it  stands  to-day.  There's  nothing  better  on  earth 
in  the  way  of  horse.  His  offer  is  practically  giving  it 
away.  I  know,  with  the  records  to  prove  its  pedigree, 
what  that  colt  would  bring  him  in  any  city  market." 

"I  don't  like  it,"  said  mother.  "I  want  Leon  to  have 
a  horse,  but  a  boy  in  a  first  experience,  and  reckless  as  he 
is,  doesn't  need  a  horse  like  that,  for  one  thing,  and  what 
is  more  important,  I  refuse  to  be  put  under  any  obliga- 
tions to  Pryors." 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  27s 

"That's  the  reason  Mr.  Pryor  asked  anything  at  all  for 
the  horse.  It  is  my  opinion  that  he  would  be  greatly 
pleased  to  give  it  to  Leon,  if  he  could  do  what  he  liked." 

"Well,  that's  precisely  the  thing  he  can't  do  in  this 
family,"  said  mother  sternly. 

"What  do  you  think,  father?"  asked  Laddie. 

"I  think  Amen!  to  that  proposition,"  said  father; 
"but  I  would  have  to  take  time  to  thresh  it  out  com- 
pletely. It  appeals  to  me  that  Leon  is  old  enough  to 
recognize  the  value  of  the  animal;  and  that  the  care  of  it 
would  develop  and  strengthen  his  character.  It  would 
be  a  responsibility  that  would  steady  him.  You  could 
teach  him  to  tend  and  break  it." 

"Break  it!"  cried  Laddie.  "Break  it!  Why  father, 
he's  riding  it  bareback  all  over  the  Pryor  meadow  now, 
and  jumping  it  over  logs.  Whenever  he  leaves,  it  fol- 
lows him  to  the  fence,  and  the  Princess  says  almost  any 
hour  of  the  day  you  look  out  you  can  see  it  pacing  up  and 
down  watching  this  way  and  whinnying  for  him  to  come." 

"And  your  best  judgment  is ?" 

Laddie  laughed  as  he  tied  my  hood  strings.  "Well 
I  don't  feel  about  the  Pryors  as  the  rest  of  you  do,"  he 
said.  "If  the  money  isn't  claimed  inside  the  time  you 
specified,  I  would  let  Leon  and  Mr.  Pryor  make  their  own 
bargain.  The  boy  won't  know  for  years  that  it  is  practi- 
cally a  gift,  and  it  would  please  Mr.  Pryor  immensely. 
Now  run,  or  you'll  be  late!" 

I  had  to  go,  so  I  didn't  know  how  they  settled  it,  but  if 
they  wouldn't  let  Leon  have  that  horse,  it  was  down- 
right mean.     What  if  we  were  under  obligations  to  Mr, 


276  LADDIE 

Pryor?  We  were  to  Sarah  Hood,  and  half  the  people  we 
knew,  and  what  was  more,  we  liked  to  be. 

When  I  came  from  school  that  night  father  had  been 
to  town.  He  had  an  ax  and  was  opening  a  big  crate,  con- 
taining two  of  the  largest,  bluest  geese  you  ever  saw. 
Laddie  said  being  boxed  that  way  and  seeing  them  so 
close  made  them  look  so  big;  really,  they  were  no  finer 
than  Pryors',  where  he  had  got  the  address  of  the  place 
that  sold  them.  Mother  was  so  pleased.  She  said  she 
had  needed  a  new  strain,  for  a  long  time,  to  improve  her 
feathers;  now  she  would  have  pillows  worth  while,  in  a  few 
years.  They  put  them  in  the  barn  where  our  geese  stayed 
over  night,  and  how  they  did  scream.  That  is,  one  of 
them  did;  the  other  acted  queerly  and  father  said  to  Laddie 
that  he  was  afraid  the  trip  was  hard  on  it.  Laddie  said 
it  might  have  been  hurt,  and  mother  was  worried  too. 
Before  she  had  them  an  hour,  she  had  sold  ail  our  ganders; 
spring  had  come,  she  had  saved  the  blue  goose  eggs,  set 
them  under  a  hen,  raised  the  goslings  with  the  little 
chickens,  never  lost  one,  picked  them  and  made  a  new 
pair  of  pillows  too  fine  for  any  one  less  important  than  a 
bishop,  or  a  judge,  or  Dr.  Fenner  to  sleep  on.  Then  she 
began  saving  for  a  featherbed.  And  still  the  goose  didn't 
act  as  spry  or  feel  as  good  as  the  gander.  He  stuck  up  his 
head,  screamed,  spread  his  wings  and  waved  them,  and 
the  butts  looked  so  big  and  hard,  I  was  not  right  certain 
whether  it  would  be  safe  to  tease  him  or  not. 

The  first  person  who  came  to  see  them  was  Sarah  Hood, 
and  she  left  with  the  promise  of  a  pair  as  soon  as  mother 
could  raise  them.     Father  said  the  only  reason  mother 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  277 

didn't  divide  her  hair  with  Sarah  Hood  was  because  it 
was  fast,  and  she  couldn't.  Mother  said  gracious  good- 
ness! she'd  be  glad  to  get  rid  of  some  of  it  if  she  could,  and 
of  course  Sarah  should  have  first  chance  at  it.  Hadn't  she 
kept  her  over  night  so  she  could  see  her  new  home  when 
she  was  rested,  and  didn't  she  come  with  her,  and  help  her 
get  settled,  and  had  she  ever  failed  when  we  had  a  baby,  or 
sickness,  or  trouble,  or  thrashers,  or  a  party?  Of  course 
she'd  gladly  divide,  even  the  hair  of  her  head,  with  Sarah 
Hood.  And  father  said,  "Yes,  he  guessed  she  would,  and 
come  to  think  of  it,  he'd  just  as  soon  spare  Sarah  part  of 
his,"  and  then  they  both  laughed,  when  it  was  nothing  so 
very  funny  that  I  could  see. 

The  next  caller  the  geese  had  was  Mrs.  Freshett.  My! 
she  thought  they  were  big  and  fine.  Mother  promised 
her  a  couple  of  eggs  to  set  under  a  hen.  Father  said  she 
was  gradually  coming  down  the  scale  of  her  feelings,  and 
before  two  weeks  she'd  give  Isaac  Thomas,  at  least,  a  quill 
for  a  pen.  Almost  no  one  wrote  with  them  any  more,  but 
often  father  made  a  few,  and  showed  us  how  to  use  them. 
He  said  they  were  gone  with  candles,  sand  boxes,  and  snuff. 
Mother  said  she  had  no  use  for  snuff,  but  candles  were  not 
gone,  she9d  make  and  use  them  to  the  day  of  her  death,  as 
they  were  the  nicest  light  ever  invented  to  carry  from  room 
to  room,  or  when  you  only  wanted  to  sit  and  think.  Father 
said  there  was  really  no  good  pen  except  the  quill  you 
sharpened  yourself;  and  while  he  often  used  steel  ones 
like  we  children  had  at  school  to  write  to  the  brothers  and 
sisters  away,  and  his  family,  he  always  kept  a  few  choice 
quills  in  the  till  of  his  chest,  and  when  he  wrote  a  deed, 


Z7S  LADDIE 

or  any  valuable  paper,  where  there  was  a  deal  with  money, 
he  used  them.  He  said  it  lent  the  dignity  of  a  past  day 
to  an  important  occasion. 

After  mother  and  Mrs.  Freshett  had  talked  over  every 
single  thing  about  the  geese,  and  that  they  were  like 
Pryors'  had  been  settled,  Mrs.  Freshett  said :  "  Since  he  told 
about  it  before  all  of  us,  and  started  out  the  way  he  did, 
would  it  be  amiss  to  ask  how  Laddie  got  on  at  Pryors'?" 

"Just  the  way  I  thought  he  would,"  said  mother.  "He 
stayed  until  all  of  us  were  in  bed,  and  I'd  never  have 
known  when  he  came  in,  if  it  were  not  a  habit  of  his 
always  to  come  to  my  door  to  see  if  I'm  sleeping.  Some- 
times I'm  wakeful,  and  if  he  pommels  my  pillow  good, 
brings  me  a  drink,  and  rubs  my  head  a  few  strokes  with 
his  strong,  cool  hands,  I  can  settle  down  and  have  a  good 
night's  rest.  I  was  awake  when  he  came,  or  I'd  never 
have  known.  It  was  almost  midnight;  but  they  sat  two 
hours  at  the  table,  and  then  all  of  them  rode." 

"Not  the  Missus?" 

"Oh  no!  She's  not  strong  enough.  She  really  has  in- 
curable heart  trouble,  the  worst  kind  there  is;  her  daughter 
told  me  so." 

"Then  they  better  look  out,"  said  Mrs.  Freshett.  "She 
is  likely  to  keel  over  at  a  breath." 

"They  must  know  it.     That's  why  she  keeps  so  quiet." 

"And  they  had  him  to  supper?" 

"It  was  a  dinner  served  at  night.  Yes.  He  took 
Mrs.  Pryor  in  on  his  arm,  and  it  was  like  a  grand  party, 
just  as  they  fixed  for  themselves,  alone-  Waiters,  and 
silver  trays,  and  things  carried  in  and  out  in  courses." 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  279 

"My  land!  Well,  I'spose  he  had  enough  schoolin'  to 
get  him  through  it  all  right!" 

My  mother's  face  grew  red.  She  never  left  any  one  in 
doubt  as  to  what  she  meant.  Father  said  that  "was  the 
Dutch  of  it."  And  mother  always  answered  that  if  any 
one  living  could  put  things  plainer  than  the  English,  she 
would  like  to  hear  them  do  it. 

"He  certainly  had,"  said  mother,  "or  they  wouldn't 
have  invited  him  to  come  again.  And  all  mine,  Mrs. 
Freshett,  knew  how  to  sit  properly  at  the  table,  and 
manage  a  knife,  fork  and  napkin,  before  they  ever  took 
a  meal  away  from  home." 

"No  'fence,"  laughed  Mrs.  Freshett.  "I  meant  that 
maybe  his  years  of  college  schoolin'  had  give  him  ways 
more  like  theirs  than  most  of  us  have.  For  all  the  money 
it  takes  to  send  a  boy  to  college,  he  ought  to  get  some- 
thin'  out  of  it  more  than  jest  fillin'  his  head  with  Aggers, 
an'  stars,  an'  oratin';  an'  most  always  you  can  see  that 
he  does." 

"It  is  contact  with  cultivated  people,"  said  mother. 
"'You  are  always  influenced  by  it,  without  knowing  it 
often." 

"Maybe  you  are,  bein'  so  fine  yourself,"  said  Mrs. 
Freshett.  "An'  me  too,  I  never  get  among  my  betters 
that  I  don't  carry  home  a  lot  I  put  right  into  daily  use,  an' 
nobody  knows  it  plainer.  I  come  here  expectin'  to  learn 
things  that  help  me,  an'  when  I  go  home  I  know  I  have." 

"Why,  thank  you,"  said  mother.  "I'm  sure  that  is 
a  very  nice  compliment,  and  I  wish  I  really  could  feel 
that  it  is  well  deserved." 


280  LADDIE 

"Oh  I  guess  you  do!"  said  Mrs.  Freshett  laughing, 
"I  often  noticed  you  makin'  a  special  effort  to  teach 
puddin'  heads  like  me  something  an'  I  always  thank  you 
for  it.  There's  a  world  in  right  teachin'.  I  never  had 
any.  So  all  I  can  pick  up  an'  hammer  into  mine  is  a 
gain  for  me  an'  them.  If  my  Henry  had  lived,  an'  come 
out  anything  like  that  boy  o'  yourn  an'  the  show  he  made 
last  Sunday,  I'd  do  well  if  I  didn't  swell  up  an'  bust  with 
pride.  An'  the  little  tow-haired  strip,  takin'  the  gun  an' 
startin'  out  alone  after  a  robber,  even  if  he  wa'n't  much 
of  a  man,  that  was  downright  spunky.  If  my  boys  will 
come  out  anywhere  near  like  yourn,  I'll  be  glad." 

"I  don't  know  how  my  boys  will  come  out,"  said 
mother.  "But  I  work,  pray,  hope,  and  hang  to  them; 
that's  all  I  know  to  do." 

"Well,  if  they  don't  come  out  right,  they  ought  to  be 
bumped!"  said  Mrs.  Freshett.  "After  all  the  chances 
they've  had!  I  don'  know  jest  how  Freshett  was  brung 
up,  but  I'd  no  chance  at  all.  My  folks — well,  I  guess 
the  less  said — little  pitchers,  you  know!  I  can't  see  as 
I  was  to  blame.  I  was  the  youngest,  an'  I  knew  things 
was  wrong.  I  fought  to  go  to  school,  an'  pap  let  me 
enough  that  I  saw  how  other  people  lived.  Come  night 
I'd  go  to  the  garret,  an'  bar  the  trapdoor;  but  there  would 
be  times  when  I  couldn't  help  seein'  what  was  goin'  on. 
How'd  you  like  chances  such  as  that  for  a  girl  of  yourn?" 

"Dreadful!"  said  mother.  "Mrs.  Freshett,  please  do 
be  careful!" 

"Sure!"  laughed  Mrs.  Freshett.  "I  was  jest  goin'  to 
tell  you  about  me  an'  Josiah.     He  come  to  our  house  one 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  281 

night,  a  stranger  off  the  road.  He  said  he  was  sick,  an* 
tired,  an'  could  he  have  a  bed.  Mother  said,  'No,  for 
him  to  move  on.'  He  tried  an'  he  couldn't.  They  was 
somethin'  about  him — well,  you  know  how  them  things 
go!  I  wa'n't  only  sixteen,  but  I  felt  so  sorry  for  him,  all 
fever  burned  and  mumblin',  I  helped  pap  put  him  to  bed, 
an'  doctored  him  all  I  could.  Come  mornin'  he  was  a 
sick  man.  Pap  went  for  the  county  doctor,  an'  he  took 
jest  one  look  an'  says :  'Small  pox !     All  of  ye  git ! ' 

"I  was  bound  I  wouldn't  go,  but  pap  made  me,  an'  the 
doctor  said  he'd  send  a  man  who'd  had  it;  so  I  started, 
but  I  felt  so  bad,  come  a  chanct  when  they  got  to  Grove- 
ville,  I  slipped  out  an'  went  back.  The  man  hadn't 
come,  so  I  set  to  work  the  best  I  knowed.  'Fore  long 
Josiah  was  a  little  better  an'  he  asked  who  I  was,  an' 
where  my  folks  went,  an'  I  told  him,  an'  he  asked  why  I 
came  back,  an'  I  didn't  know  what  to  say,  so  I  jest  hung 
my  head  an'  couldn't  face  him.  After  a  while  he  says, 
'All  right!  I  guess  I  got  this  sized  up.  If  you'll  stay 
an'  nuss  me  through,  I'll  be  well  enough  to  pull  you  out, 
by  the  time  you  get  it,  an'  soon  as  you're  able  we'll  splice, 
if  you  say  so.' 

'"Marry  me,  you  mean?'  says  I.  They  wa'n't  ever 
any  talk  about  marryin'  at  our  house.  'Sure!'  says  he. 
'You're  a  mighty  likely  lookin'  girl!  I'll  do  fair  by  ye/ 
An'  he  always  has,  too!  But  I  didn't  feel  right  to  let  him 
go  it  blind,  so  I  jest  up  and  says,  'You  wouldn't  if  you 
knowed  my  folks!'  'You  look  as  decent  as  I  do,'  says 
he;  'I'll  chance  it!'  Then  I  toie  him  I  was  as  good  as  I 
was  born,  an'  he  believed  me,  an'  he  always  has,  an'  I  was 


282  LADDIE 

too!  So  I  nussed  him,  but  I  didn't  make  the  job  of  it 
he  did.  You  'member  he  is  pitted  considerable.  He  was 
so  strong  I  jest  couldn't  keep  him  from  disfigerin'  himself, 
but  he  tied  me.  I  begged  to  be  loose,  an'  he  wouldn't 
listen,  so  I  got  a  clean  face,  only  three  little  scars,  an'  they 
ain't  deep  to  speak  of.  He  says  he  looks  like  a  piece  of 
side  meat,  but  say!  they  ain't  nothin'  the  matter  with  his 
looks  to  me! 

"The  nuss  man  never  did  come,  but  the  county  doctor 
passed  things  in  the  winder,  till  I  was  over  the  worst,  an' 
Josiah  sent  for  a  preacher  an'  he  married  us  through  the 
winder — I  got  the  writin's  to  show,  all  framed  an'  proper. 
Josiah  said  he'd  see  I  got  all  they  was  in  it  long  that  line, 
anyway.  When  I  was  well,  hanged  if  he  didn't  perdooce 
a  wad  from  his  clothes  before  they  burnt  'em,  an'  he  got 
us  new  things  to  wear,  an'  a  horse,  an'  wagon,  an'  we 
driv  away  here  where  we  thought  we  could  start  right, 
an'  after  we  had  the  land,  an'  built  the  cabin,  an'  jest 
as  happy  as  heart  could  wish,  long  come  a  man  I'd  made 
mad  once,  an'  he  tole  everythin'  up  and  down.  Josiah 
was  good  about  it.  He  offered  to  sell  the  land,  an'  pull 
up  an'  go  furder.  'What's  the  use?'  says  I.  'Hun- 
dreds know  it.  We  can't  go  so  far  it  won't  be  like  to 
follow  us;  le's  stay  here  an'  fight  it.'  'All  right,'  says 
Josiah,  but  time  an'  ag'in  he  has  offered  to  go,  if  I  couldn't 
make  it.  'Hang  on  a  little  longer,'  says  I,  every  time 
he  knew  I  was  snubbed  an'  slighted.  I  never  tole  what 
he  didn't  notice.  I  tried  church,  when  my  children  began 
to  git  a  size  I  wanted  'em  to  have  right  teachin',  an'  you 
come  an'  welcomed  me  an'  you  been  my  friend,  an'  now 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  283 

the  others  is  comin'  over  at  last,  an'  visitin'  me,  an'  they 
ain't  a  thing  more  I  want  in  life." 

"I  am  so  glad!"  said  mother.  "Oh  my  dear,  I  am  so 
glad!" 

"Goin'  right  home  an'  tell  that  to  Josiah,"  said  Mrs. 
Freshett,  jumping  up  laughing  and  crying  like,  "an' 
mebby  I'll  jest  spread  wings  and  fly!  I  never  was  so 
happy  in  all  my  life  as  I  was  Sunday,  when  you  ast  me 
before  all  of  them,  so  cordial  like,  an'  says  I  to  Josiah, 
'We'll  go  an'  try  it  once,'  an'  we  come  an'  nobody  turned  a 
cold  shoulder  on  us,  an'  I  wa'n't  wearin'  specks  to  see  if 
they  did,  for  I  never  knowed  him  so  happy  in  all  his  days. 
Orter  heard  him  whistle  goin'  home,  an'  he's  tryin'  all 
them  things  he  learned,  on  our  place,  an'  you  can  see  it 
looks  a  heap  better  a'ready,  an'  now  he's  talkin'  about 
buildin'  in  the  spring.  I  knowed  he  had  money,  but  he 
never  mentioned  buildin'  before,  an'  I  always  thought  it 
was  bekase  he  'sposed  likely  we'd  have  to  move  on,  some 
time.  'Pears  now  as  if  we  can  settle,  an'  live  like  other 
folks,  after  all  these  years.  I  knowed  ye  didn't  want  me 
to  talk,  but  I  had  to  tell  you!  When  you  ast  us  to  the 
weddin',  and  others  began  comin'  round,  says  I  to  Josiah, 
'Won't  she  be  glad  to  know  that  my  skirts  is  clear,  an'  I 
did  as  well  as  I  could ? '  An' he  says, 'That  she  will!  An' 
more  am  I,'  says  he.  'I  mighty  proud  of  you,'  says  he. 
Proud!  Think  of  that!  Miss  Stanton,  I'd  jest  wade  fire 
and  blood  for  you!" 

"Oh  my  dear!"  said  mother.  "What  a  dreadful  thing 
to  say!" 

"Gimme  the  chanct,  an'  watch  if  I  don't,"  said  Mrs. 


284  LADDIE 

Freshett.  "Now,  Josiah  is  proud  I  stuck  it  out!  Now, 
I  can  have  a  house!  Now,  my  children  can  have  all  the 
show  we  can  raise  to  give  'em!  I'm  done  cringin'  an' 
dodgin'!  I've  always  done  my  best;  henceforth  I  mean 
to  hold  up  my  head  an'  say  so.  I  sure  can't  be  held  for 
what  was  done  'fore  I  was  on  earth,  or  since  neither. 
You've  given  me  my  show,  I'm  goin'  to  take  it,  but  if  you 
want  to  know  what's  in  my  heart  about  you,  gimme 
any  kind  of  a  chanct  to  prove,  an'  see  if  I  don't  pony  right 
up  to  it!" 

Mother  laughed  until  the  tears  rolled,  she  couldn't  help 
it.  She  took  Mrs.  Freshett  in  her  arms  and  hugged  her 
tight,  and  kissed  her  mighty  near  like  she  does  Sarah 
Hood.  Mrs.  Freshett  threw  her  arms  around  mother, 
and  looked  over  her  shoulder,  and  said  to  me,  "Sis,  when 
you  grow  up,  always  take  a  chanct  on  welcomin'  the 
stranger,  like  your  maw  does,  an'  heaven's  bound  to  be 
your  home!  My,  but  your  maw  is  a  woman  to  be  proud 
of!"  she  said,  hugging  mother  and  patting  her  on  the  back. 

"All  of  us  are  proud  of  her ! "  I  boasted. 

"I  doubt  if  you  are  proud  enough!"  cried  Mrs.  Freshett. 
"I  have  my  doubts!  I  don't  see  how  people  livin'  with 
her,  an'  seein'  her  every  day,  are  in  a  shape  to  know  jest 
what  she  can  do  for  a  person  in  the  place  I  was  in.  I 
have  my  doubts!" 

That  night  when  I  went  home  from  school  mother  was 
worrying  over  the  blue  goose.  When  we  went  to  feed, 
she  told  Leon  that  she  was  afraid  it  was  weak,  and  not 
getting  enough  to  eat  when  it  fed  with  the  others.  She 
said  after  the  work  was  finished,  to  take  it  out  alone,  and 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  285 

give  it  all  it  would  eat;  so  when  the  horses  were  tended, 
the  cows  milked,  everything  watered,  and  the  barn  ready 
to  close  for  the  night,  Laddie  took  the  milk  to  the  house, 
while  Leon  and  I  caught  the  blue  goose,  carried  her  to 
the  well,  and  began  to  shell  corn.  She  was  starved  to 
death,  almost.  She  ate  a  whole  ear  in  no  time  and  looked 
for  more,  so  Leon  sent  me  after  another.  By  the  time 
that  was  most  gone  she  began  to  eat  slower,  and  stick  her 
bill  in  the  air  to  help  the  grains  slip  down,  so  I  told  Leon 
I  thought  she  had  enough. 

"No  such  thing!"  said  Leon.  "You  distinctly  heard 
mother  tell  me  to  give  her  'all  she  would  eat.'  She's 
eating,  isn't  she?     Go  bring  another  ear!" 

So  she  was,  but  I  was  doubtful  about  more. 

Leon  said  I  better  mind  or  he  would  tell  mother,  so  I 
got  it.  She  didn't  begin  on  it  with  any  enthusiasm. 
She  stuck  her  bill  higher,  stretched  her  neck  longer,  and 
she  looked  so  funny  when  she  did  it,  that  we  just  shrieked. 
Then  Leon  reached  over,  took  her  by  the  bill,  and  stripped 
her  neck  to  help  her  swallow,  and  as  soon  as  he  let  go,  she 
began  to  eat  again. 

"You  see!"  said  Leon,  "she's  been  starved.  She  can't 
get  enough.     I  must  help  her!" 

So  he  did  help  her  every  little  bit.  By  that  time  we 
were  interested  in  seeing  how  much  she  could  hold;  and 
she  looked  so  funny  that  Leon  sent  me  for  more  corn;  but 
I  told  him  I  thought  what  she  needed  now  was  water,  so 
we  held  her  to  the  trough,  and  she  tried  to  drink,  but  she 
couldn't  swallow  much.  We  set  her  down  beside  the 
corn,  and  she  went  to  eating  again. 


2S6  LADDIE 

"Go  it,  old  mill-hopper!"  cried  Leon. 

Right  then  there  was  an  awful  commotion  in  the  barn, 
and  from  the  squealing  we  knew  one  of  the  horses  was 
loose,  and  fighting  the  others.  We  ran  to  fix  them,  and 
had  a  time  to  get  Jo  back  into  his  stall,  and  tied.  Before 
We  had  everything  safe,  the  supper  bell  rang,  and  I  bet 
Leon  a  penny  I  could  reach  the  house  while  he  shut  the 
door  and  got  there.  We  forgot  every  single  thing  about 
the  goose. 

At  supper  mother  asked  Leon  if  he  fed  the  goose  all  she 
would  eat,  and  I  looked  at  him  guilty-like,  for  I  remem- 
bered we  hadn't  put  her  back.  He  frowned  at  me  cross 
as  a  bear,  and  I  knew  that  meant  he  had  remembered,  and 
would  slip  back  and  put  her  inside  when  he  finished  his 
supper,  so  I  didn't  say  anything. 

"I  didn't  feed  her  all  she  would  eat!"  said  Leon.  "If 
I  had,  she'd  be  at  it  yet.  She  was  starved  sure  enough! 
You  never  saw  anything  like  the  corn  she  downed." 

"Well  I  declare!"  said  mother.  "Now  after  this,  take 
her  out  alone,  for  a  few  days,  and  give  her  as  much  as  she 
wants." 

"All  right!"  chuckled  Leon,  because  it  was  a  lot  of  fun 
to  see  her  run  her  bill  around,  and  gobble  up  the  corn,  and 
stick  up  her  head. 

The  next  day  was  Saturday,  so  after  breakfast  I  went 
with  Leon  to  drive  the  sheep  and  geese  to  the  creek  to 
water;  the  trough  was  so  high  it  was  only  for  the  horses  and 
cattle;  when  we  let  out  the  geese,  the  blue  one  wasn't 
there. 

"Oh  Leon,  did  you  forget  to  come  back  and  put  her  in  ? " 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  287 

"Yes  1  did!"  he  said.  "I  meant  to  when  I  looked  at 
you  to  keep  still,  and  I  started  to  do  it,  but  Sammy  Deam 
whistled,  so  I  went  down  in  the  orchard  to  see  what  he 
wanted,  and  we  got  to  planning  how  to  get  up  a  fox  chase, 
and  I  stayed  until  father  called  for  night,  and  then  I  ran 
and  forgot  all  about  the  blame  old  goose." 

"Oh  Leon!  Where  is  she?  What  will  mother  say? 
'Spose  a  fox  got  her!" 

"It  wouldn't  help  me  any  if  it  had,  after  I  was  to 
blame  for  leaving  her  outside.  Blast  a  girl!  If  you 
ever  amounted  to  anything,  you  could  have  put  her 
in  while  I  fixed  the  horses.  At  least  you  could  have  told 
me  to." 

I  stood  there  dumblike  and  stared  at  him.  He  has 
got  the  awfulest  way  of  telling  the  truth  when  he  is 
scared  or  provoked.  Of  course  I  should  have  thought  of 
the  goose  when  he  was  having  such  a  hard  fight  with  the 
horses.  If  I'd  been  like  he  was,  I'd  have  told  him  that  he 
was  older,  mother  told  him  to  do  it,  and  it  wasn't  my  fault; 
but  in  my  heart  I  knew  he  did  have  his  hands  full,  and  if 
you're  your  brother's  keeper,  you  ought  to  help  your 
brother  remember.  So  I  stood  gawking,  while  Leon 
slowly  turned  whiter  and  whiter. 

"We  might  as  well  see  if  we  can  find  her,"  he  said  at 
last,  so  slow  and  hopeless  like  it  made  my  heart  ache. 
So  he  started  around  the  straw  stack  one  way,  and  I  the 
other,  looking  into  all  the  holes,  and  before  I  had  gone  far 
I  had  a  glimpse  of  her,  and  it  scared  me  so  I  screamed, 
for  her  head  was  down,  and  she  didn't  look  right.  Leon 
came   running   and    pulled   her   out.     The   swelled   corn 


288  LADDIE 

rolled  in  a  little  trail  after  her,  and  the  pigs  ran  up  and 
began  to  eat  it.  Pigs  are  named  righter  than  anything 
else  I  know. 

"Busted!"  cried  Leon  in  tones  of  awe;  about  the  worst 
awe  you  ever  heard,  and  the  worst  bust  you  ever  saw. 

From  bill  to  breast  she  was  wide  open,  and  the  hominy 
spilling.  We  just  stood  staring  at  her,  and  then  Leon 
began  to  kick  the  pigs;  because  it  would  be  no  use  to  kick 
the  goose;  she  would  never  know.  Then  he  took  her  up, 
carried  her  into  the  barn,  and  put  her  on  the  floor  where 
the  other  geese  had  stayed  all  night.  We  stood  and 
looked  at  her  some  more,  as  if  looking  and  hoping  would 
make  her  get  up  and  be  alive  again.  But  there's  nothing 
in  all  this  world  so  useless  as  wishing  dead  things  would 
come  alive;  we  had  to  do  something. 

"What  are  you  going  to  tell  mother?" 

"Shut  up!"  said  Leon.     "I'm  trying  to  think." 

"I'll  say  it  was  as  much  my  fault  as  yours.  I'll  go  with 
you.     I'll  take  half  whatever  they  do  to  you." 

"Little  fool!"  said  Leon.  "What  good  would  that  do 
me?" 

"Do  you  know  what  they  cost  ?  Could  you  get  another 
with  some  of  your  horse  money?" 

I  saw  it  coming  and  dodged  again,  before  I  remembered 
the  Crusaders. 

"All  right!"  I  said.  "If  that's  the  way  you  are  going 
to  act,  Smarty,  I'll  lay  all  the  blame  on  you;  I  won't  help 
you  a  bit,  and  I  don't  care  if  you  are  whipped  until  the 
blood  runs." 

Then  I  went  out  of  the  barn  and  slammed  the  door. 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  289 

For  a  minute  I  felt  better;  but  it  was  a  short  time.  I 
said  that  to  be  mean,  but  I  did  care.  I  cared  dreadfully; 
I  was  partly  to  blame,  and  I  knew  it.  Coming  around 
the  barn,  I  met  Laddie,  and  he  saw  in  a  flash  I  was  in 
trouble,  so  he  stopped  and  asked:  "What  now,  Chicken?" 

"Come  into  the  barn  where  no  one  will  hear  us,"  I  said. 

So  we  went  around  the  outside,  entered  at  the  door  on 
the  embankment,  and  he  sat  in  the  wheelbarrow  on  the 
threshing  floor  while  I  told  him.  I  thought  I  felt  badly 
enough,  but  after  I  saw  Laddie,  it  grew  worse,  for  I  re- 
membered we  were  short  of  money  that  fall,  that  the  goose 
was  a  fine,  expensive  one,  and  how  proud  mother  was  of  her, 
and  how  she'd  be  grieved,  and  that  was  trouble  for  sure. 

"Run  along  and  play!"  said  Laddie,  "and  don't  tell 
any  one  else  if  you  can  help  it.  I'll  hide  the  goose,  and 
see  if  I  can  get  another  in  time  to  take  the  place  of  this  one, 
so  mother  won't  be  worried." 

I  walked  to  the  house  slowly,  but  I  was  afraid  to  enter. 
When  you  are  all  choked  up,  people  are  sure  to  see  it,  and 
ask  fool  questions.  So  I  went  around  to  the  gate  and  stood 
there  looking  up  and  down  the  road,  and  over  the  meadow 
toward  the  Big  Woods;  and  all  at  once,  in  one  of  those  high, 
regular  bugle  calls,  like  they  mostly  scream  in  spring,  one  of 
Pryors'  ganders  split  the  echoes  for  a  mile;  maybe  farther. 

I  was  across  the  road  and  slinking  down  inside  the 
meadow  fence  before  I  knew  it.  There  was  no  thought 
or  plan.  I  started  for  Pryors'  and  went  straight  ahead, 
only  I  kept  out  of  line  with  our  kitchen  windows.  I 
tramped  through  the  slush,  ice,  and  crossed  fields  where 
I  was  afraid  of  horses;  but  when  I  got  to  the  top  of  the 


290  LADDIE 

Pryor  backyard  fence,  I  stuck  there,  for  the  bulldogs 
were  loose,  and  came  raving  at  me.  I  was  going  to  be 
eaten  alive,  for  I  didn't  know  the  word  Laddie  did;  and 
those  dogs  climbed  a  fence  like  a  person;  I  saw  them  the 
time  Leon  brought  back  Even  So.  I  was  thinking  what 
a  pity  it  was,  after  every  one  had  grown  accustomed  to 
me,  and  had  begun  loving  me,  that  I  should  be  wasted  for 
dog  feed,  when  Mr.  Pryor  came  to  the  door,  and  called  them ; 
they  didn't  mind,  so  he  came  to  the  fence,  and  crossest  you 
ever  heard,  every  bit  as  bad  as  the  dogs,  he  cried :  "Whose 
brat  are  you,  and  what  are  you  doing  here?" 

I  meant  to  tell  him;  but  you  must  have  a  minute  after 
a  thing  like  that. 

"God  of  my  life!"  he  fairly  frothed.  "What  did  any- 
body send  a  dumb  child  here  for?" 

"Dumb  child!"  I  didn't  care  if  Mr.  Pryor  did  wear  a 
Crown  of  Glory.  It  wasn't  going  to  do  him  one  particle 
of  good,  unless  he  was  found  in  the  way  of  the  Lord. 
"Dumb  child!"  I  was  no  more  dumb  than  he  was,  until 
his  bulldogs  scared  me  so  my  heart  got  all  tangled  up 
with  my  stomach,  my  lungs,  and  my  liver.  That  made  me 
mad,  and  there  was  nothingthat  would  help  me  to  loosen  up 
and  talk  fast,  like  losing  my  temper.  I  wondered  what  kind 
of  a  father  he  had.  If  he'd  been  stood  against  the  wall  and 
made  to  recite,  "Speak  Gently,"  as  often  as  all  of  us, 
perhaps  he'd  have  remembered  the  verse  that  says: 

"Speak  gently  to  the  little  child; 
Its  love  be  sure  to  gain; 
Teach  it  in  accents  soft  and  mild; 
It  may  not  long  remain." 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  291 

I  should  think  not,  if  it  had  any  chance  at  all  to  get 
away!  I  was  so  angry  by  that  time  I  meant  to  tell  him 
what  I  thought.  Polite  or  not  polite,  I'd  take  a  switching 
if  I  had  to,  but  I  wasn't  going  to  stand  that. 

"You  haven't  got  any  God  in  your  life,"  I  reminded 
him,  "and  no  one  sent  me  here.  I  came  to  see  the  Prin- 
cess, because  I'm  in  awful  trouble  and  I  hoped  maybe 
she  could  fix  up  a  way  to  help  me." 

"Ye  Gods!"  he  cried.  He  would  stick  to  calling  on 
God,  whether  he  believed  in  Him  or  not.  "If  it  isn't 
Nimrod !     I  didn't  recognize  you  in  all  that  bundling." 

Probably  he  didn't  know  it,  but  Nimrod  was  from  the 
Bible  too!  By  bundling,  he  meant  my  hood  and  coat. 
He  helped  me  from  the  fence,  sent  the  bulldogs  rolling — 
sure  enough  he  did  kick  them,  and  they  didn't  like  it 
either — took  my  hand  and  led  me  straight  into  the  house, 
and  the  Princess  was  there,  and  a  woman  who  was  her 
mother  no  doubt,  and  he  said:  "Pamela,  here  is  our  little 
neighbour,  and  she  says  she's  in  trouble,  and  she  thinks 
you  might  be  of  some  assistance  to  her.  Of  course  you 
will  be  glad  if  you  can." 

"Surely!"  said  the  Princess,  and  she  introduced  me  to 
her  mother,  so  I  bowed  the  best  I  knew,  and  took  off  my 
wet  mitten,  dirty  with  climbing  fences,  to  shake  hands 
with  her.  She  was  so  gracious  and  lovely  I  forgot  what 
I  went  after.  The  Princess  brought  a  cloth  and  wiped  the 
wet  from  my  shoes  and  stockings,  and  asked  me  if  I 
wouldn't  like  a  cup  of  hot  tea  to  keep  me  from  taking  a 
chill. 

"I've  been  much  wetter  than  this,"  I  told  her,  "and 


292  LADDIE 

I  never  have  taken  a  chill,  and  anyway  my  throat's  too 
full  of  trouble  to  drink." 

"Why,  you  poor  child!"  said  the  Princess.  "Tell  me 
quickly!     Is  your  mother  ill  again?" 

"Not  now,  but  she's  going  to  be  as  soon  as  she  finds 
out,"  I  said,  and  then  I  told  them. 

They  all  listened  without  a  sound  until  I  got  where 
Leon  helped  the  goose  eat,  and  from  that  on  Mr.  Pryor 
laughed  until  you  could  easily  see  that  he  had  very  little 
feeling  for  suffering  humanity.  It  was  funny  enough 
when  we  fed  her,  but  now  that  she  was  bursted  wide  open 
there  was  nothing  amusing  about  it;  and  to  roar  when  a 
visitor  plainly  told  you  she  was  in  awful  trouble,  didn't 
seem  very  good  manners  to  me.  The  Princess  and  her 
mother  never  even  smiled;  and  before  I  had  told  nearly 
all  of  it,  Thomas  was  called  to  hitch  the  Princess'  driving 
cart,  and  she  took  me  to  their  barnyard  to  choose  the 
goose  that  looked  most  like  mother's,  and  all  of  them 
seemed  like  hers,  so  we  took  the  first  one  Thomas  could 
catch,  put  it  into  a  bag  in  the  back  of  the  cart,  and  then 
we  got  in  and  started  for  our  barn.  As  we  reached  the 
road,  I  said  to  her:  "You'd  better  go  past  Dovers',  for 
if  we  come  down  our  Little  Hill  they  will  see  us  sure;  it's 
baking  day." 

"All  right!"  said  the  Princess,  so  we  went  the  long 
way  round  the  section,  but  goodness  me!  when  she  drove 
no  way  was  far. 

When  we  were  opposite  our  barn  she  stopped,  hitched 
her  horse  to  the  fence,  and  we  climbed  over,  and  slipping 
behind  the  barn,  carried  the  goose  around  to  the  pen  and 


LADDIE  TAKES  THE  PLUNGE  293 

put  it  in  with  ours.  She  said  she  wanted  the  broken  one, 
because  her  father  would  enjoy  seeing  it.  I  didn't  see  how 
he  could!  We  were  ready  to  slip  out,  when  our  geese 
began  to  run  at  the  new  one,  hiss  and  scream,  and  make 
such  a  racket  that  Laddie  and  Leon  both  caught  us. 
They  looked  at  the  goose,  at  me,  the  Princess,  and  each 
other,  and  neither  said  a  word.  She  looked  back  a  little 
bit,  and  then  she  laughed  as  hard  as  she  could.  Leon 
grew  red,  and  he  grinned  ashamed-like,  so  she  laughed 
worse  than  ever.  Laddie  spoke  to  me:  "You  went  to 
Mr.  Pryor's  and  asked  for  that  goose?" 

"She  did  not!"  said  the  Princess  before  I  could  answer. 
"She  never  asked  for  anything.  She  was  making  a 
friendly  morning  call  and  in  the  course  of  her  visit  she 
told  about  the  pathetic  end  of  the  goose  that  was  expected 
to  lay  the  golden  egg — I  mean  stuff  the  Bishop's  pillow — 
and  as  we  have  a  large  flock  of  blue  geese,  father  gave  her 
one,  and  he  had  the  best  time  he's  had  in  years  doing  it. 
I  wouldn't  have  had  him  miss  the  fun  he  got  from  it 
for  any  money.  He  laughed  like  home  again.  Now  I 
must  slip  away  before  any  one  sees  me,  and  spoils  our 
secret.  Leon,  lad,  you  can  go  to  the  house  and  tell  your 
little  mother  that  the  feeding  stopped  every  pain  her 
goose  had,  and  hereafter  it  looks  to  you  as  if  she'd  be  all 
right." 

"Miss  Pryor,"  said  Leon,  "did  you  care  about  what  I 
said  at  you  in  church  that  day?" 

"'Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love.  There  is  no  spot  in  thee/ 
Well,  it  was  a  little  pointed,  but  since  you  ask  a  plain 
question,  I  have  survived  it." 


294  LADDIE 

"I'm  awfully  sorry,"  said  Leon.  "Of  course  I  never 
would,  if  I'd  known  you  could  be  this  nice." 

The  Princess  looked  at  Laddie  and  almost  gasped,  and 
then  both  of  them  laughed.  Leon  saw  that  he  had  told 
her  he  was  sorry  he  said  she  was  "fair,  and  no  spot  in  her." 

"Oh  I  don't  mean  that!"  he  said.  "What  I  do  mean 
is  that  I  thank  you  awful  much  for  the  goose,  and  helping 
me  out  like  such  a  brick  of  a  good  fellow,  and  what  I  wish 
is,  that  I  was  old  as  Laddie,  and  he'd  hump  himself  if  he 
got  to  be  your  beau." 

The  Princess  almost  ran.  Laddie  and  I  followed  to  the 
road,  where  he  unhitched  the  horse  and  helped  her  in. 
Then  he  stood  stroking  its  neck,  as  he  held  the  bridle. 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  say ! "  said  Laddie. 

"In  such  case,  I  would  counsel  silence,"  advised  the 
Princess. 

"I  hope  you  understand  how  I  thank  you." 

"1  fail  to  see  what  for.  Father  gave  the  goose  to  Little 
Sister.  Her  thanks  and  Leon's  are  more  than  enough  for 
him.     We  had  great  sport." 

"  I  insist  on  adding  mine.     Deep  and  fervent ! " 

"You  take  everything  so  serious.  Can't  you  see  the 
fun  of  this?" 

"No,"  said  Laddie.  "But  if  you  can,  I  am  glad,  and 
I'm  thankful  for  anything  that  gives  me  a  glimpse  of  you." 

"Bye,  Little  Sister,"  said  the  Princess,  and  when  she 
loosened  the  lines  the  mud  flew  a  rod  high. 


CHAPTER  XI 
Keeping  Christmas  Our  Way 

"I  remember,  I  remember 

How  my  childhood  fleeted  by, — 
The  mirth  of  its  December, 
And  the  warmth  of  its  July.'' 

HEN  dusk  closed  in  it  would  be  Christmas  eve. 
All  day  I  had  three  points — a  chair  beside  the 
kitchen  table,  a  lookout  melted  through  the 
frost  on  the  front  window,  and  the  big  sitting-room  fire- 
place. 

All  the  perfumes  of  Araby  floated  from  our  kitchen 
that  day.  There  was  that  delicious  smell  of  baking  flour 
from  big  snowy  loaves  of  bread,  light  biscuit,  golden  coffee 
cake,  and  cinnamon  rolls  dripping  a  waxy  mixture  of 
sugar,  butter,  and  spice,  much  better  than  the  finest 
butterscotch  ever  brought  from  the  city.  There  was  the 
tempting  odour  of  boiling  ham  and  baking  pies.  The 
air  was  filled  with  the  smell  of  more  herbs  and  spices 
than  I  knew  the  names  of,  that  went  into  mincemeat, 
fruit  cake,  plum  pudding,  and  pies.  There  was  a  teasing 
fragrance  in  the  spiced  vinegar  heating  for  pickles,  a 
reminder  of  winesap  and  rambo  in  the  boiling  cider,  while 
the  newly  opened  bottles  of  grape  juice  filled  the  house 
with  the  tang  of  Concord  and  muscadine.     It  seemed  to 

295 


296  LADDIE 

me  I  never  got  nicely  fixed  where  I  could  take  a  sly  dip  in 
the  cake  dough  or  snipe  a  fat  raisin  from  the  mincemeat 
but  Candace  would  say:  "Don't  you  suppose  the  backlog 
is  halfway  down  the  lane  ? " 

Then  I  hurried  to  the  front  window,  where  I  could  see 
through  my  melted  outlook  on  the  frosted  pane,  across 
the  west  eighty  to  the  woods,  where  father  and  Laddie 
were  getting  out  the  Christmas  backlog.  It  was  too 
bitterly  cold  to  keep  me  there  while  they  worked,  but 
Laddie  said  that  if  I  would  watch,  and  come  to  meet 
them,  he  would  take  me  up,  and  I  might  ride  home  among 
the  Christmas  greens  on  the  log. 

So  I  flattened  my  nose  against  the  pane  and  danced 
and  fidgeted  until  those  odours  teased  me  back  to  the 
kitchen;  and  no  more  did  I  get  nicely  located  beside  a 
jar  of  pudding  sauce  than  Candace  would  object  to 
the  place  I  had  hung  her  stocking.  It  was  my  task,  my 
delightful  all-day  task,  to  hang  the  stockings.  Father  had 
made  me  a  peg  for  each  one,  and  I  had  ten  feet  of  mantel 
front  along  which  to  arrange  them.  But  it  was  no  small 
job  to  do  this  to  every  one's  satisfaction.  No  matter 
what  happened  to  any  one  else,  Candace  had  to  be  pleased: 
for  did  not  she  so  manage  that  most  fowls  served  on 
mother's  table  went  gizzardless  to  the  carving?  She 
knew  and  acknowledged  the  great  importance  of  trying 
cookies,  pies,  and  cake  while  they  were  hot.  She  was 
forever  overworked  and  tired,  yet  she  always  found  time 
to  make  gingerbread  women  with  currant  buttons  on 
their  frocks,  and  pudgy  doughnut  men  with  clove  eyes 
and  cigars  of  cinnamon.     If  my  own  stocking  lay  on  the 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        297 

hearth,  Candace's  had  to  go  in  a  place  that  satisfied  her — ■ 
that  was  one  sure  thing.  Besides,  I  had  to  make  up  to 
her  for  what  Leon  did,  because  she  was  crying  into  the 
corner  of  her  apron  about  that. 

He  slipped  in  and  stole  her  stocking,  hung  it  over  the 
broomstick,  and  marched  around  the  breakfast  table 
singing  to  the  tune  of — 

"Ha,  ha,  ha,  who  wouldn't  go — 

Up  on  the  housetop  click,  click,  click? 
Down  through  the  chimney, 
With  good  Saint  Nick " 

words  he  made  up  himself.  He  walked  just  fast  enough 
that  she  couldn't  catch  him,  and  sang  as  he  went: 

"Ha,  ha,  ha,  good  Saint  Nick, 

Come  and  look  at  this  stocking,  quickl 
If  you  undertake  its  length  to  fill, 

You'll  have  to  bust  a  ten-dollar  bill. 
Who  does  it  belong  to?     Candace  Swartz. 

Bring  extra  candy, — seven  quarts " 

She  got  so  angry  she  just  roared,  so  father  made  Leon 
stop  it,  but  I  couldn't  help  laughing  myself.  Then  we 
had  to  pet  her  all  day,  so  she'd  cheer  up,  and  not  salt 
the  Christmas  dinner  with  her  tears.  I  never  saw  such  a 
monkey  as  Leon!  I  trotted  out  to  comfort  her,  and 
snipped  bites,  until  I  wore  a  triangle  on  the  carpet  be- 
tween the  kitchen  and  the  mantel,  the  mantel  and  the 
window,  and  the  window  and  the  kitchen,  while  every 
hour  things  grew  more  exciting. 

There  never  had  been  such  a  flurry  at  our  house  since 


298  LADDIE 

I  could  remember;  for  to-morrow  would  be  Christmas 
and  bring  home  all  the  children,  and  a  house  full  of  guests. 
My  big  brother,  Jerry,  who  was  a  lawyer  in  the  city, 
was  coming  with  his  family,  and  so  were  Frank,  Elizabeth, 
and  Lucy  with  theirs,  and  of  course  Sally  and  Peter — I 
wondered  if  she  would  still  be  fixing  his  tie — and  Shelley 
came  yesterday,  blushing  like  a  rose,  and  she  laughed  if 
you  pointed  your  finger  at  her. 

Something  had  happened  to  her  in  Chicago.  I  wasn't 
so  sure  as  I  had  been  about  a  city  being  such  a  dreadful 
place  of  noise,  bad  air,  and  wicked  people.  Nothing 
had  hurt  Shelley.  She  had  grown  so  much  that  you  could 
see  she  was  larger.  Her  hair  and  face — all  of  Shelley  just 
shone.  Her  eyes  danced,  she  talked  and  laughed  all  the 
time,  and  she  hugged  every  one  who  passed  her.  She 
never  loved  us  so  before.  Leon  said  she  must  have  been 
homesick  and  coming  back  had  given  her  a  spell.  I  did 
hope  it  would  be  a  bad  one,  and  last  forever.  I  would 
have  liked  for  all  our  family  to  have  had  a  spell  if  it  would 
have  made  them  act  and  look  like  Shelley.  The  Princess 
was  not  a  speck  lovelier,  and  she  didn't  act  any  nicer. 

If  I  could  have  painted,  I'd  have  made  a  picture  of 
Shelley  with  a  circle  of  light  above  her  head  like  the  one 
of  the  boy  Jesus  where  He  talked  with  the  wise  men  in  the 
temple.  I  asked  father  if  he  noticed  how  much  prettier 
and  nicer  she  was,  and  he  said  he  did.  Then  I  asked  him 
if  he  thought  now,  that  a  city  was  such  a  bad  place  to  live 
in,  and  he  said  where  she  was  had  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
the  same  thing  would  happen  here,  or  anywhere,  when 
life's  greatest  experience  came  to  a  girl.     That  was  aU 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        299 

he  would  say,  but  figuring  it  out  was  easy.  The  greatest 
experience  that  happened  to  our  girls  was  when  they  mar- 
ried, like  Sally,  so  it  meant  that  Shelley  had  gone  and 
fallen  in  love  with  that  lawyer  man,  and  she  liked  sitting 
on  the  sofa  with  him,  and  no  doubt  she  fixed  his  ties.  But 
if  any  one  thought  I  would  tell  anything  I  saw  when  he 
came  they  were  badly  mistaken. 

All  of  us  rushed  around  like  we  were  crazy.  If  father 
and  mother  hadn't  held  steady  and  kept  us  down,  we 
might  have  raised  the  roof.  We  were  all  so  glad  about 
getting  Leon  and  the  money  back;  mother  hadn't  been 
sick  since  the  fish  cured  her;  the  new  blue  goose  was 
so  like  the  one  that  had  burst,  even  father  never  noticed 
any  difference;  all  the  children  were  either  home  or  com- 
ing, and  after  we  had  our  gifts  and  the  biggest  dinner  we 
ever  had,  Christmas  night  all  of  us  would  go  to  the 
schoolhouse  to  see  our  school  try  to  spell  down  three 
others  to  whom  they  had  sent  saucy  invitations  to  come 
and  be  beaten. 

Mother  sat  in  the  dining-room  beside  the  kitchen 
door,  so  that  she  could  watch  the  baking,  brewings, 
pickling,  and  spicing.  It  took  four  men  to  handle  the 
backlog,  which  I  noticed  father  pronounced  every  year 
'just  a  little  the  finest  we  ever  had,"  and  Laddie  strung 
the  house  with  bittersweet,  evergreens,  and  the  most 
beautiful  sprays  of  myrtle  that  he  raked  from  under  the 
snow.  Father  drove  to  town  in  the  sleigh,  and  the  list 
of  things  to  be  purchased  mother  gave  him  as  a  reminder 
was  almost  a  yard  long. 

The   minute   thev   finished   the   outdoor  work  Laddie 


300  LADDIE 

and  Leon  began  bringing  in  baskets  of  apples,  golden 
bellflowers,  green  pippins,  white  winter  pearmains,  Rhode 
Island  greenings,  and  striped  rambos  all  covered  with 
hoarfrost,  yet  not  frozen,  and  so  full  of  juice  you  had  to 
bite  into  them  carefully  or  they  dripped  and  offended 
mother.  These  they  washed  and  carried  to  the  cellar 
ready  for  use. 

Then  they  cracked  big  dishes  of  nuts,  and  popped 
corn  that  popped  with  the  most  resounding  pops  in  all 
my  experience — popped  a  tubful,  and  Laddie  melted 
maple  sugar  and  poured  over  it  and  made  big  balls  of 
fluff  and  sweetness.  He  took  a  pan  and  filled  it  with 
grains,  selected  one  at  a  time,  the  very  largest  and  whitest, 
and  made  an  especial  ball,  in  the  middle  of  which  he  put 
a  lovely  pink  candy  heart  on  which  was  printed  in  red 
letters:  "How  can  this  heart  be  mine,  yet  yours,  unless 
our  hearts  are  one?"  He  wouldn't  let  any  of  them  see  it 
except  me,  and  he  only  let  me  because  he  knew  I'd  be 
delighted. 

It  was  almost  dusk  when  father  came  through  the 
kitchen  loaded  with  bundles  and  found  Candace  and  the 
girls  still  cooking. 

We  were  so  excited  we  could  scarcely  be  gathered 
around  the  supper  table,  and  mother  said  we  chattered 
until  she  couldn't  hear  herself  think.  After  a  while  Laddie 
laid  down  his  fork  and  looked  at  our  father. 

"Have  you  any  objection  to  my  using  the  sleigh  to- 
morrow night?"  he  asked. 

Father  looked  at  mother. 

"Had  you  planned  to  use  it,  mother?" 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        301 

Mother  said:  "No.  If  I  go,  I'll  ride  in  the  big  sled 
with  all  of  us.  It  is  such  a  little  way,  and  the  roads  are 
like  glass." 

So  father  said  politely,  as  he  always  spoke  to  us:  "Then 
it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  for  you  to  take  it,  my  son." 

That  made  Leon  bang  his  fork  loudly  as  he  dared 
and  squirm  in  his  chair,  for  well  he  knew  that  if  he  had 
asked,  the  answer  would  have  been  different.  If  Laddie 
took  the  sleigh  he  would  harness  carefully,  drive  fast,  but 
reasonably,  blanket  his  horse,  come  home  at  the  right 
time,  and  put  everything  exactly  where  he  found  it.  But 
Leon  would  pitch  the  harness  on  some  way,  race  every 
step,  never  think  of  his  steaming  horse,  come  home  when 
there  was  no  one  so  wild  as  he  left  to  play  pranks  with, 
and  scatter  the  harness  everywhere.  He  knew  our  father 
would  love  to  trust  him  the  same  as  he  did  Laddie.  He 
wouldn't  always  prove  himself  trustworthy,  but  he  envied 
Laddie. 

"You  think  you'll  take  the  Princess  to  the  spelling 
bee,  don't  you?"  he  sneered. 

"I  mean  to  ask  her,"  replied  Laddie. 

"Maybe  you  think  she'll  ride  in  our  old  homemade, 
hickory  cheesebox,  when  she  can  sail  all  over  the  country 
like  a  bird  in  a  velvet-lined  cutter  with  a  real  buffalo  robe." 

There  was  a  quick  catch  in  mother's  breath  and  I  felt 
her  hand  on  my  chair  tremble.  Father's  lips  tightened 
and  a  frown  settled  on  his  face,  while  Laddie  fairly  jumped. 
He  went  white  to  the  lips,  and  one  hand  dropped  on  the 
table,  palm  up,  the  fingers  closing  and  unclosing,  while 
his  eyes  turned  first  to  mother,  and  then  to  father,  in 


302  LADDIE 

dumb  appeal.  We  all  knew  that  he  was  suffering.  No 
one  spoke,  and  Leon  having  shot  his  arrow  straight  home, 
saw  as  people  so  often  do  in  this  world  that  the  damage 
of  unkind  words  could  not  easily  be  repaired;  so  he  grew 
red  in  the  face  and  squirmed  uncomfortably. 

At  last  Laddie  drew  a  deep,  quivering  breath.  "I 
never  thought  of  that,"  he  said.  "She  has  seemed 
happy  to  go  with  me  several  times  when  I  asked  her, 
but  of  course  she  might  not  care  to  ride  in  ours,  when 
she  has  such  a  fine  sleigh  of  her  own." 

Father's  voice  fairly  boomed  down  the  length  of  the 
table. 

"Your  mother  always  has  found  our  sleigh  suitable," 
he  said. 

The  fact  was,  father  was  rarely  proud  of  it.  He  had 
selected  the  hickory  in  our  woods,  cut  and  hauled  it 
to  the  mill,  cured  the  lumber,  and  used  all  his  spare  time 
for  two  winters  making  it.  With  the  exception  of  having 
the  runners  turned  at  a  factory  and  iron-bound  at  a 
smithy,  he  had  completed  it  alone  with  great  care,  even 
to  staining  it  a  beautiful  cherry  colour,  and  fitting  white 
sheepskins  into  the  bed.  We  had  all  watched  him  and 
been  so  proud  of  it,  and  now  Leon  was  sneering  at  it. 
He  might  just  as  well  have  undertaken  to  laugh  at  father's 
wedding  suit  or  to  make  fun  of  "Clark's  Commentaries." 

Laddie  appealed  to  mother:  "Do  you  think  I'd  better 
not  ask  her?" 

He  spoke  with  an  effort. 

"Laddie,  that  is  the  first  time  I  ever  heard  you  propose 
to  do  any  one  an  injustice,"  she  said. 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        303 

"I  don't  see  how,"  said  Laddie. 

"It  isn't  giving  the  Princess  any  chance  at  all,"  re- 
plied mother.  "You've  just  said  that  she  has  seemed 
pleased  to  accompany  you  before,  now  you  are  proposing 
to  cut  her  out  of  what  promises  to  be  the  most  delightful 
evening  of  the  winter,  without  even  giving  her  the  chance 
to  say  whether  she'd  go  with  you  or  not.  Has  she  ever 
made  you  feel  that  anything  you  offered  her  or  wanted 
to  do  for  her  was  not  good  enough  ? " 

"Never!"  exclaimed  Laddie  fervently. 

"Until  she  does,  then,  do  you  think  it  would  be  quite 
manly  and  honourable  to  make  decisions  for  her?  You 
say  you  never  thought  of  anything  except  a  pleasant 
time  with  her;  possibly  she  feels  the  same.  Unless  she 
changes,  I  would  scarcely  let  a  boy's  foolish  tongue  disturb 
her  pleasure.  Moreover,  as  to  the  matter  of  wealth, 
your  father  may  be  as  rich  as  hers;  but  they  have  one, 
we  have  many.  If  what  we  spend  on  all  our  brood 
could  be  confined  to  one  child,  we  could  easily  duplicate 
all  her  luxuries,  and  I  think  she  has  the  good  sense  to 
realize  the  fact  as  quickly  as  any  one.  I've  no  doubt 
she  would  gladly  exchange  half  she  has  for  the  companion- 
ship of  a  sister  or  a  brother  in  her  lonely  life." 

Laddie  turned  to  father,  and  father's  smile  was  happy 
again.  Mother  was  little  but  she  was  mighty.  With 
only  a  few  words  she  had  made  Leon  feel  how  unkind  and 
foolish  he  had  been,  quieted  Laddie's  alarm,  and  soothed 
the  hurt  father's  pride  had  felt  in  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  furnish  her  with  so  fine  a  turnout  as  Pryors  had. 

Next  morning  when  the  excitement  of  gifts  and  greet- 


304  LADDIE 

ings  was  over,  and  Laddie's  morning  work  was  all  finished, 
he  took  a  beautiful  volume  of  poems  and  his  popcorn  ball 
and  started  across  the  fields  due  west;  all  of  us  knew  that 
he  was  going  to  call  on  and  offer  them  to  the  Princess,  and 
ask  to  take  her  to  the  spelling  bee.  I  suppose  Laddie 
thought  he  was  taking  that  trip  alone,  but  really  he  was 
surrounded.  I  watched  him  from  the  window,  and  my 
heart  went  with  him.  Presently  father  went  and  sat 
beside  mother's  chair,  and  stroking  her  hand,  whispered 
softly:  "Please  don't  worry,  little  mother.  It  will  be 
all  right.     Your  boy  will  come  home  happy.'* 

"I  hope  so,"  she  answered,  "but  I  can't  help  feeling 
dreadfully  nervous.  If  things  go  wrong  with  Laddie, 
it  will  spoil  the  day." 

"I  have  much  faith  in  the  Princess'  good  common 
sense,"  replied  father,  "and  considering  what  it  means  to 
Laddie,  it  would  hurt  me  sore  to  lose  it." 

Mother  sat  still,  but  her  lips  moved  so  that  I  knew 
she  was  making  soft  little  whispered  prayers  for  her  best 
loved  son.  But  Laddie,  plowing  through  the  drift, 
never  dreamed  that  all  of  us  were  with  him.  He  was 
always  better  looking  than  any  other  man  I  ever  had 
seen,  but  when,  two  hours  later,  he  stamped  into  the 
kitchen  he  was  so  much  handsomer  than  usual,  that  I 
knew  from  the  flush  on  his  cheek  and  the  light  in  his 
eye,  that  the  Princess  had  been  kind,  and  by  the  package 
in  his  hand,  that  she  had  made  him  a  present.  He  really 
had  two,  a  beautiful  book  and  a  necktie.  I  wondered 
to  my  soul  if  she  gave  him  that,  so  she  could  fix  it!  I 
didn't  believe  she  had  begun  on  his  ties  at  that  time; 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        305 

but  of  course  when  he  loved  her  as  he  did,  he  wished  she 
would. 

It  was  the  very  jolliest  Christmas  we  ever  had,  but 
the  day  seemed  long.  When  night  came  we  were  in  a 
precious  bustle.  The  wagon  bed  on  bobs,  filled  with 
hay  and  covers,  drawn  by  Ned  and  Jo,  was  brought  up 
for  the  family,  and  the  sleigh  made  spick-and-span  and 
drawn  by  Laddie's  thoroughbred,  stood  beside  it.  Laddie 
had  filled  the  kitchen  oven  with  bricks  and  hung  up  a 
comfort  at  four  o'clock  to  keep  the  Princess  warm. 

Because  he  had  to  drive  out  of  the  way  to  bring  her, 
Laddie  wanted  to  start  early;  and  when  he  came  down 
dressed  in  his  college  clothes,  and  looking  the  manliest 
of  men,  some  of  the  folks  thought  it  funny  to  see  him 
carefully  rake  his  hot  bricks  from  the  oven,  and  pin  them 
in  an  old  red  breakfast  shawl.  I  thought  it  was  fine, 
and  I  whispered  to  mother:  "Do  you  suppose  that  if 
Laddie  ever  marries  the  Princess  he  will  be  good  to  her 
as  he  is  to  you  ? " 

Mother  nodded  with  tear-dimmed  eyes,  but  Shelley 
said :  "I'll  wager  a  strong  young  girl  like  the  Princess  will 
laugh  at  you  for  babying  over  her." 

"Why?"  inquired  Laddie.  "It  is  a  long  drive  and  a 
bitter  night,  and  if  you  fancy  the  Princess  will  laugh  at 
anything  I  do,  when  I  am  doing  the  best  I  know  for  her 
comfort,  you  are  mistaken.  At  least,  that  is  the  impres- 
sion she  gave  me  this  morning." 

I  saw  the  swift  glance  mother  shot  at  father,  and  father 
laid  down  his  paper  and  said,  while  he  pretended  his 
glasses  needed  polishing:  "Now  there  is  the  right  sort  of 


3o6  LADDIE 

a  girl  for  you.  No  foolishness  about  her,  when  she  has 
every  chance.     Hurrah  for  the  Princess!" 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  she  wasn't  going  to  have  nearly 
so  hard  a  time  changing  father's  opinion  as  she  would 
mother's.  It  was  not  nearly  a  year  yet,  and  here  he 
was  changed  already.  Laddie  said  good-bye  to  mother — 
he  never  forgot — gathered  up  his  comfort  and  bricks, 
and  started  for  Pryors'  downright  happy.  We  went  to 
the  schoolhouse  a  little  later,  all  of  us  scoured,  curled, 
starched,  and  wearing  our  very  best  clothes.  My!  but  it 
was  fine.  There  were  many  lights  in  the  room  and  it 
was  hung  with  greens.  There  was  a  crowd  even  though 
it  was  early.  On  Miss  Amelia's  table  was  a  volume  of 
history  that  was  the  prize,  and  every  one  was  looking 
and  acting  the  very  best  he  knew  how,  although  there 
were  cases  where  they  didn't  know  so  very  much. 

Our  Shelley  was  the  handsomest  girl  there,  until  the 
Princess  came,  and  then  they  both  were.  Shelley  wore 
one  of  her  city  frocks  and  a  quilted  red  silk  hood  that 
was  one  of  her  Christmas  gifts,  and  she  looked  just  like  a 
handsome  doll.  She  made  every  male  creature  in  that 
room  feel  that  she  was  pining  for  him  alone.  May  had 
a  gay  plaid  frock  and  curls  nearly  a  yard  long,  and  so  had 
I,  but  both  our  frocks  and  curls  were  homemade;  mother 
would  have  them  once  in  a  while;  father  and  I  couldn't 
stop  her. 

But  there  was  not  a  soul  there  who  didn't  have  some 
sort  of  gift  to  rejoice  over,  and  laughter  and  shouts  of 
"Merry  Christmas!"  filled  the  room.  It  was  growing 
late  and  there  was  some  talk  of  choosers,  when  the  door 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        307 

opened  and  in  a  rush  of  frosty  air  the  Princess  and  Laddie 
entered.  Every  one  stopped  short  and  stared.  There 
was  good  reason.  The  Princess  looked  as  if  she  had  ac- 
cidentally stepped  from  a  frame.  She  was  always  lovely 
and  beautifully  dressed,  but  to-night  she  was  prettier 
and  finer  than  ever  before.  You  could  fairly  hear  their 
teeth  click  as  some  of  the  most  envious  of  those  girls 
caught  sight  of  her,  for  she  was  wearing  a  new  hat! — a 
black  velvet  store  hat,  fitting  closely  over  her  crown,  with 
a  rim  of  twisted  velvet,  a  scarlet  bird's  wing,  and  a  big 
silver  buckle.  Her  dress  was  of  scarlet  cloth  cut  in  forms, 
and  it  fitted  as  if  she  had  been  melted  and  poured  into 
it.  It  was  edged  around  the  throat,  wrists,  and  skirt 
with  narrow  bands  of  fur,  and  she  wore  a  loose,  long,  silk- 
lined  coat  of  the  same  material,  and  worst  of  all,  furs — furs 
such  as  we  had  heard  wealthy  and  stylish  city  ladies  were 
wearing.  A  golden  brown  cape  that  reached  to  her 
elbows,  with  ends  falling  to  the  knees,  finished  in  the  tails 
of  some  animal,  and  for  her  hands  a  muff  as  big  as  a  nail 
keg. 

Now,  there  was  not  a  girl  in  that  room,  except  the 
Princess,  an  she  had  those  clothes,  who  wouldn't  have 
flirted  like  a  peacock,  almost  bursting  with  pride;  but 
because  the  Princess  had  them,  and  they  didn't,  they  sat 
stolid  and  sullen,  and  cast  glances  at  each  other  as  if  they 
were  saying:  "The  stuck-up  thing!"  "Thinks  she's 
smart,  don't  she?" 

Many  of  them  should  have  gone  to  meet  her  and  made 
her  welcome,  for  she  was  not  of  our  district  and  really  their 
guest.     Shelley  did  go,  but  I  noticed  she  didn't  hurry. 


308  LADDIE 

The  choosers  began  at  once,  and  Laddie  was  the  first 
person  called  for  our  side,  and  the  Princess  for  the  visitors'. 
Every  one  in  the  room  was  chosen  on  one  side  or  the 
other;  even  my  name  was  called,  but  I  only  sat  still  and 
shook  my  head,  for  I  very  well  knew  that  no  one  except 
father  would  remember  to  pronounce  easy  ones  for  me, 
and  besides  I  was  so  bitterly  disappointed  I  could  scarcely 
have  stood  up.  They  had  put  me  in  a  seat  near  the  fire; 
the  spellers  lined  either  wall,  and  a  goodly  number  that 
refused  to  spell  occupied  the  middle  seats.  I  couldn't 
get  a  glimpse  of  Laddie  or  the  home  folks,  or  worst  of  all, 
of  my  idolized  Princess. 

I  never  could  bear  to  find  a  fault  with  Laddie,  but 
I  sadly  reflected  that  he  might  as  well  have  left  me  at 
home,  if  I  were  to  be  buried  where  I  could  neither  hear 
nor  see  a  thing.  I  was  just  wishing  it  was  summer  so 
I  could  steal  out  to  the  cemetery,  and  have  a  good  visit 
with  the  butterflies  that  always  swarmed  around  Georgiana 
Jane  Titcomb's  grave  at  the  corner  of  the  church.  I  never 
knew  Georgiana  Jane,  but  her  people  must  have  been  very 
fond  of  her,  for  her  grave  was  scarlet  with  geraniums,  and 
pink  with  roses  from  earliest  spring  until  frost,  and  the 
bright  colours  attracted  swarms  of  butterflies.  I  had 
learned  that  if  I  stuck  a  few  blossoms  in  my  hair,  rubbed 
some  sweet  smelling  ones  over  my  hands,  and  knelt  and 
kept  so  quiet  that  I  fitted  into  the  landscape,  the  butter- 
flies would  think  me  a  flower  too,  and  alight  on  my  hair, 
dress,  and  my  hands,  even.  God  never  made  anything 
more  beautiful  than  those  butterflies,  with  their  wings  of 
brightly  painted   velvet  down,  their  bright  eyes,  their 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        309 

curious  antennae,  and  their  queer,  tickly  feet.  Laddie 
had  promised  me  a  book  telling  all  about  every  kind 
there  was,  the  first  time  he  went  to  a  city,  so  I  was  wishing 
I  had  it,  and  was  among  my  pet  beauties  with  it,  when  I 
discovered  him  bending  over  me. 

He  took  my  arm,  and  marching  back  to  his  place, 
helped  me  to  the  deep  window  seat  beside  him,  where 
with  my  head  on  a  level,  and  within  a  foot  of  his,  I  could 
see  everything  in  trie  whole  room.  I  don't  know  why  I 
ever  spent  any  time  pining  for  the  beauties  of  Georgiana 
Jane  Titcomb's  grave,  even  with  its  handsome  headstone 
on  which  was  carved  a  lamb  standing  on  three  feet  and 
holding  a  banner  over  its  shoulder  with  the  fourth,  and 
the  geraniums,  roses,  and  the  weeping  willow  that  grew 
over  it,  thrown  in.  I  might  have  trusted  Laddie.  He 
never  had  forgotten  me;  until  he  did,  I  should  have  kept 
unwavering  faith. 

Now,  I  had  the  best  place  of  any  one  in  the  room,  and 
I  smoothed  my  new  plaid  frock  and  shook  my  handmade 
curls  just  as  near  like  Shelley  as  ever  I  could.  But  it 
seems  that  most  of  the  ointment  in  this  world  has  a  fly 
in  it,  like  in  the  Bible,  for  fine  as  my  location  was,  I  soon 
knew  that  I  should  ask  Laddie  to  put  me  down,  because 
the  window  behind  me  didn't  fit  its  frame,  and  the  night 
was  bitter.  Before  half  an  hour  I  was  stiff  with  cold;  but 
I  doubt  if  I  would  have  given  up  that  location  if  I  had 
known  I  would  freeze,  because  this  was  the  most  fun  I 
had  ever  seen. 

Miss  Amelia  began  with  McGuffey's  spelling  book, 
and  whenever  some  poor  unfortunate  made  a  bad  break 


310  LADDIE 

the  crowd  roared  with  laughter.  Peter  Justice  stood 
up  to  spell  and  before  three  rounds  he  was  nodding  on 
his  feet,  so  she  pronounced  "sleepy"  to  him.  Some  one 
nudged  Pete  and  he  waked  up  and  spelled  it,  s-l-e,  sle, 
p-e,  pe,  and  because  he  really  was  so  sleepy  it  made  every 
one  laugh.  James  Whittaker  spelled  compromise  with 
a  k,  and  Isaac  Thomas  spelled  soap,  s-o-a-p-e,  and  it  was 
all  the  funnier  that  he  couldn't  spell  it,  for  from  his 
looks  you  could  tell  that  he  had  no  acquaintance  with  it 
in  any  shape.  Then  Miss  Amelia  gave  out  "marriage" 
to  the  spooniest  young  man  in  the  district,  and  "step- 
father" to  a  man  who  was  courting  a  widow  with  nine 
children;  and  "coquette"  to  our  Shelley,  who  had  been 
making  sheep's  eyes  at  Johnny  Myers,  so  it  took  her  by 
surprise  and  she  joined  the  majority,  which  by  that  time 
occupied  seats. 

There  was  much  laughing  and  clapping  of  hands  for 
a  time,  but  when  Miss  Amelia  had  let  them  have  their 
fun  and  thinned  the  lines  to  half  a  dozen  on  each  side 
who  could  really  spell,  she  began  business,  and  pronounced 
the  hardest  words  she  could  find  in  the  book,  and  the 
spellers  caught  them  up  and  rattled  them  off  like  machines. 

"Incompatibility,"  she  gave  out,  and  before  the  sound 
of  her  voice  died  away  the  Princess  was  spelling:  "I-n, 
in,  c-o-m,  com,  incom,  p-a-t,  pat,  incompat,  i,  incompati, 
b-i-1,  bil,  incompatibil,  i,  incompatibili,  t-y,  ty,  incompati- 
bility. 

Then  Laddie  spelled  "incomprehensibility,"  and  they 
finished  up  the  "bilities"  and  the  "alities"  with  a  rush  and 
changed  McGufTey's  for  Webster,  with  five  on  Laddie's 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        311 

side  and  three  on  the  Princess',  and  when  they  quit  with 
it,  the  Princess  was  alone,  and  Laddie  and  our  little  May 
facing  her. 

From  that  on  you  could  call  it  real  spelling.  They 
spelled  from  the  grammars,  hyperbole,  synechdoche, 
and  epizeuxis.  They  spelled  from  the  physiology,  chlor- 
ophyll, coccyx,  arytenoid,  and  the  names  of  the  bones 
and  nerves,  and  all  the  hard  words  inside  you.  They 
tried  the  diseases  and  spelled  jaundice,  neurasthenia,  and 
tongue-tied.  They  tried  all  the  occupations  and  pro- 
fessions, and  went  through  the  stores  and  spelled  all 
sorts  of  hardware,  china  and  dry  goods.  Each  side 
kept  cheering  its  own  and  urging  them  to  do  their  best, 
and  every  few  minutes  some  man  in  the  back  of  the  house 
said  something  that  was  too  funny.  When  Miss  Amelia 
pronounced  "bombazine"  to  Laddie  our  side  cried, 
"Careful,  Laddie,  careful!  you're  out  of  your  element!" 

And  when  she  gave  "swivel-tree"  to  the  Princess,  her 
side  whispered,  "Go  easy!  Do  you  know  what  it  is? 
Make  her  define  it." 

They  branched  over  the  country.  May  met  her 
Jonah  on  the  mountains.  Katahdin  was  too  much  for 
her,  and  Laddie  and  the  Princess  were  left  to  fight  it 
out  alone.  I  didn't  think  Laddie  liked  it.  I'm  sure 
he  never  expected  it  to  turn  out  that  way.  He  must 
have  been  certain  he  could  beat  her,  for  after  he  finished 
English  there  were  two  or  three  other  languages  he  knew, 
and  every  one  in  the  district  felt  that  he  could  win,  and 
expected  him  to  do  it.  It  was  an  awful  place  to  put  him 
in,  I  could  see  that.     He  stood  a  little  more  erect  than 


3i2  LADDIE 

usual,  with  his  eyes  toward  the  Princess,  and  when  his 
side  kept  crying,  "Keep  the  prize,  Laddie!  Hold  up  the 
glory  of  the  district!"  he  ground  out  the  words  as  if  he 
had  a  spite  at  them  for  not  being  so  hard  that  he  would 
have  an  excuse  for  going  down. 

The  Princess  was  poised  lightly  on  her  feet,  her  thick 
curls,  just  touching  her  shoulders,  shining  in  the  light;  her 
eyes  like  stars,  her  perfect,  dark  oval  face  flushed  a  rich 
red,  and  her  deep  bosom  rising  and  falling  with  excite- 
ment. Many  times  in  later  years  I  have  tried  to  remem- 
ber when  the  Princess  was  loveliest  of  all,  and  that  night 
always  stands  first. 

I  was  thinking  fast.  Laddie  was  a  big  man.  Men 
were  strong  on  purpose  so  they  could  bear  things.  He 
loved  the  Princess  so,  and  he  didn't  know  whether  she 
loved  him  or  not;  and  every  marriageable  man  in  three 
counties  was  just  aching  for  the  chance  to  court  her,  and 
I  didn't  feel  that  he  dared  risk  hurting  her  feelings. 

Laddie  said,  to  be  the  man  who  conquered  the  Princess 
and  to  whom  she  lifted  her  lips  for  a  first  kiss  was  worth 
life  itself.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  night  that  he  knew 
just  exactly  what  he  was  talking  about.  I  thought  so 
too.  And  I  seemed  to  understand  why  Laddie — Laddie 
in  his  youth,  strength,  and  manly  beauty,  Laddie,  who 
boasted  that  there  was  not  a  nerve  in  his  body — trembled 
before  the  Princess. 

It  looked  as  if  she  had  set  herself  against  him  and 
was  working  for  the  honours,  and  if  she  wanted  them, 
I  didn't  feel  that  he  should  chance  beating  her,  and  then, 
too,  it  was  beginning  to  be  plain  that  it  was  none  too  sure 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY         313 

he  could.  Laddie  didn't  seem  to  be  the  only  one  who  had 
been  well  drilled  in  spelling. 

I  held  my  jaws  set  a  minute,  so  that  I  could  speak  without 
Laddie  knowing  how  I  was  shivering,  and  then  I  whispered : 
"Except  her  eyes  are  softer,  she  looks  just  like  a  cardinal." 

Laddie  nodded  emphatically  and  moving  a  step  nearer 
laid  his  elbow  across  my  knees.  Heavens,  how  they 
spelled!  They  finished  all  the  words  I  ever  heard  and 
spelled  like  lightning  through  a  lot  of  others  the  meaning  of 
which  I  couldn't  imagine.  Father  never  gave  them  out  at 
home.  They  spelled  epiphany,  gaberdine,  ichthyology, 
gewgaw,  kaleidoscope,  and  troubadour.  Then  Laddie 
spelled  one  word  two  different  ways;  and  the  Princess 
went  him  one  better,  for  she  spelled  another  three. 

They  spelled  from  the  Bible,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Potiphar, 
Peleg,  Belshazzar,  Abimelech,  and  a  host  of  others  I 
never  heard  the  minister  preach  about.  Then  they  did 
the  most  dreadful  thing  of  all.  "Broom,"  pronounced 
the  teacher,  and  I  began  mentally,  b-r-o-o-m,  but  Laddie 
spelled  "b-r-o-u-g-h-a-m,"  and  I  stared  at  him  in  a  daze. 
A  second  later  Miss  Amelia  gave  out  "Beecham"  to  the 
Princess,  and  again  I  tried  it,  b-e-e-c-h,  but  the  Princess 
was  spelling  "  B-e-a-u-c-h-a-m-p,"  and  I  almost  fell  from 
the  window. 

They  kept  that  up  until  I  was  nearly  crazy  with  ner- 
vousness; I  forgot  I  was  half  frozen.  I  pulled  Laddie's 
sleeve  and  whispered  in  his  ear:  "Do  you  think  she'll 
cry  if  you  beat  her?" 

I  was  half  crying  myself,  the  strain  had  been  awful. 
I  was  torn  between  these  dearest  loves  of  mine. 


3i4  LADDIE 

"Seen  me  have  any  chance  to  beat  her?"  retorted 
Laddie. 

Miss  Amelia  seemed  to  have  used  most  of  her  books, 
and  at  last  picked  up  an  old  geography  and  began  giving 
out  points  around  the  coast,  while  Laddie  and  the  Princess 
took  turns  snatching  the  words  from  her  mouth  and  spell- 
ing them.  Father  often  did  that,  so  Laddie  was  safe 
there.  They  were  just  going  it  when  Miss  Amelia  pro- 
nounced, "Terra  del  Fuego,"  to  the  Princess.  "T-e-r- 
r-a,  Terra,  d-e-1,  del,  F-i-e-u-g-o,"  spelled  the  Princess, 
and  sat  down  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  a  mighty  groan 
from  her  side,  swelled  by  a  wail  from  one  little  home 
district  deserter. 

"Next!"  called  Miss  Amelia. 

"T-e-r-r-a,  Terra,  d-e-1,  del,  F-e-u-g-o,"  spelled  Laddie. 

"Wrong!"  wailed  Miss  Amelia,  and  our  side  breathed 
one  big  groan  in  concert,  and  I  lifted  up  my  voice  in  that 
also.  Then  every  one  laughed  and  pretended  they  didn't 
care,  and  the  Princess  came  over  and  shook  hands  with 
Laddie,  and  Laddie  said  to  Miss  Amelia:  "Just  let  me 
take  that  book  a  minute  until  I  see  how  the  thing  really 
does  go."  It  was  well  done  and  satisfied  the  crowd, 
which  clapped  and  cheered;  but  as  I  had  heard  him  spell 
it  many,  many  times  for  father,  he  didn't  fool  me. 

Laddie  and  the  Princess  drew  slips  for  the  book  and 
it  fell  to  her.  He  was  so  pleased  he  kissed  me  as  he 
lifted  me  down  and  never  noticed  I  was  so  stiff"  I  could 
scarcely  stand — and  I  did  fall  twice  going  to  the  sleigh. 
My  bed  was  warm  and  my  room  was  warm,  but  I  chilled 
the  night  through  and  until  the  next  afternoon,  when  I 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        315 

grew  so  faint  and  sleepy  I  crept  to  Miss  Amelia's  desk, 
half  dead  with  fright — it  was  my  first  trip  to  ask  an 
excuse — and  begged:  "Oh  teacher,  I'm  so  sick.  Please 
let  me  go  home." 

I  think  one  glance  must  have  satisfied  her  that  it  was 
true,  for  she  said  very  kindly  that  I  might,  and  she 
would  send  Leon  along  to  take  care  of  me.  But  my 
troubles  were  only  half  over  when  I  had  her  consent. 
It  was  very  probable  I  would  be  called  a  baby  and  sent 
back  when  I  reached  home,  so  I  refused  company  and 
started  alone.  It  seemed  a  mile  past  the  cemetery. 
I  was  so  tired  I  stopped,  and  leaning  against  the  fence, 
peeped  through  at  the  white  stones  and  the  whiter  mounds 
they  covered,  and  wondered  how  my  mother  would  feel  if 
she  were  compelled  to  lay  me  beside  the  two  little  whoop- 
ing cough  and  fever  sisters  already  sleeping  there.  I 
decided  that  it  would  be  so  very  dreadful,  that  the  tears 
began  to  roll  down  my  cheeks  and  freeze  before  they 
fell. 

Down  the  Big  Hill  slowly  I  went.  How  bare  it  looked 
then!  Only  leafless  trees  and  dried  seed  pods  rattling 
on  the  bushes,  the  sand  frozen,  and  not  a  rush  to  be  seen 
for  the  thick  blanket  of  snow.  A  few  rods  above  the 
bridge  was  a  footpath,  smooth  and  well  worn,  that  led 
down  to  the  creek,  beaten  by  the  feet  of  children  who 
raced  it  every  day  and  took  a  running  slide  across  the 
ice.  I  struck  into  the  path  as  always;  but  I  was  too 
stiff  to  run,  for  I  tried.  I  walked  on  the  ice,  and  being 
almost  worn  out,  sat  on  the  bridge  and  fell  to  watching 
the  water  bubbling  under  the  glassy  crust.     I  was  so 


316  LADDIE 

dull  a  horse's  feet  struck  the  bridge  before  I  heard  the 
bells — for  I  had  bells  in  my  ears  that  day — and  when 
I  looked  up  it  was  the  Princess — the  Princess  in  her  red 
dress  and  furs,  with  a  silk  hood  instead  of  her  hat,  her 
sleigh  like  a  picture,  with  a  buffalo  robe,  that  it  was 
whispered  about  the  country,  cost  over  a  hundred  dollars, 
and  her  thoroughbred  mare  Maud  dancing  and  prancing. 
"Bless  me!  Is  it  you,  Little  Sister?"  she  asked.  "Shall 
I  give  you  a  ride  home  ? " 

Before  I  could  scarcely  realize  she  was  there,  I  was 
beside  her  and  she  was  tucking  the  fine  warm  robe  over 
me.     I  lifted  a  pair  of  dull  eyes  to  her  face. 

"Oh  Princess,  I  am  so  glad  you  came,"  I  said.  "I  don't 
think  I  could  have  gone  another  step  if  I  had  frozen  on 
the  bridge." 

The  Princess  bent  to  look  in  my  face.  "Why,  you  poor 
child ! "  she  exclaimed,  "  you're  white  as  death !  Where  are 
you  ill?" 

I  leaned  on  her  shoulder,  though  ordinarily  I  would 
not  have  offered  to  touch  her  first,  and  murmured:  "I 
am  not  ill,  outdoors,  only  dull,  sleepy,  and  freezing  with 
the  cold." 

"It  was  that  window!"  she  exclaimed.  "I  thought  of 
it,  but  I  trusted  Laddie." 

That  roused  me  a  little. 

"Oh  Princess,"  I  cried,  "you  mustn't  blame  Laddie! 
I  knew  it  was  too  cold,  but  I  wouldn't  tell  him,  because 
if  he  put  me  down  I  couldn't  see  you,  and  we  thought, 
but  for  your  eyes  being  softer,  you  looked  just  like  a 
cardinal." 


KEEPING  CHRISTMAS  OUR  WAY        317 

The  Princess  hugged  me  close  and  laughed  merrily. 
"You  darling!"  she  cried. 

Then  she  shook  me  up  sharply:  "Don't  you  dare  go 
to  sleep!"  she  said.     "I  must  take  you  home  first." 

Once  there  she  quieted  my  mother's  alarm,  put  me 
to  bed,  drove  three  miles  for  Dr.  Fenner  and  had  me 
started  nicely  on  the  road  to  a  month  of  lung  fever, 
before  she  left.  In  my  delirium  I  spelled  volumes;  and 
the  miracle  of  it  was  I  never  missed  a  word  until  I  came 
to  "Terra  del  Fuego,"  and  there  I  covered  my  lips  and 
stoutly  insisted  that  it  was  the  Princess'  secret. 

To  keep  me  from  that  danger  sleep  on  the  road,  she 
shook  me  up  and  asked  about  the  spelling  bee.  I  thought 
it  was  the  grandest  thing  I  had  ever  seen  in  my  life,  and 
I  told  her  so.  She  gathered  me  close  and  whispered: 
"Tell  me  something,  Little  Sister,  please." 

The  minx!  She  knew  I  thought  that  a  far  finer  title 
than  hers. 

"Would  Laddie  care?"  I  questioned. 

"Not  in  the  least!" 

"Well  then,  I  will." 

"Can  Laddie  spell  'Terra  del  Fuego?'"  she  whispered. 

I  nodded. 

"Are  you  sure?" 

"I  have  heard  him  do  it  over  and  over  for  father." 

The  Princess  forgot  I  was  so  sick,  forgot  her  horse, 
forgot  everything.  She  threw  her  head  back  and  her 
hands  up,  until  her  horse  stopped  in  answer  to  the  loosened 
line,  and  she  laughed  and  laughed.  She  laughed  until 
peal  on  peal  re-echoed  from  our  Big  Woods  clear  across 


318  LADDIE 

the  west  eighty.  She  laughed  until  her  ringing  notes 
set  my  slow  pulses  on  fire,  and  started  my  numbed  brain 
in  one  last  effort.  I  stood  up  and  took  her  lovely  face 
between  my  palms,  turning  it  until  I  could  see  whether 
the  thought  that  had  come  to  me  showed  in  her  eyes, 
and  it  did. 

"Oh  you  darling,  splendid  Princess !"  I  cried.  "You 
missed  it  on  purpose  to  let  Laddie  beat!  You  can  spell 
it  too!" 


CHAPTER  XII 
The  Horn  of  the  Hunter 

"The  dusky  night  rides  down  the  sky, 
And  ushers  in  the  morn: 
The  hounds  all  join  in  glorious  cry, 
The  huntsman  winds  his  horn." 

LEON  said  our  house  reminded  him  of  the  mourners' 
bench  before  any  one  had  "come  through."  He 
^d  said  it  was  so  deadly  with  Sally  and  Shelley  away, 
that  he  had  a  big  notion  to  marry  Susie  Fall  and  bring  her 
over  to  liven  things  up  a  little.  Mother  said  she  thought 
that  would  be  a  good  idea,  and  Leon  started  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Falls',  but  he  only  went  as  far  as  Deams'.  When 
he  came  back  he  had  a  great  story  to  tell  about  dogs 
chasing  their  sheep,  and  foxes  taking  their  geese.  Father 
said  sheep  were  only  safe  behind  securely  closed  doors, 
especially  in  winter,  and  geese  also.  Leon  said  every  one 
hadn't  as  big  a  barn  as  ours,  and  father  said  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  any  man  from  building  the  sized  barn 
he  needed  to  shelter  his  creatures  in  safety  and  comfort, 
if  he  wanted  to  dig  in  and  earn  the  money  to  put  it  up. 
There  was  no  answer  to  that,  and  Mr.  Leon  didn't  try 
to  make  any.  Mostly,  he  said  something  to  keep  on 
talking,  but  sometimes  he  saw  when  he  had  better  quit. 
I  was  having  a  good  time,  myself.     Of  course  when  the 

1.1  g 


32o  LADDIE 

fever  was  the  worst,  and  when  I  never  had  been  sick 
before,  it  was  pretty  bad,  but  as  soon  as  I  could  breathe 
all  right,  there  was  no  pain  to  speak  of,  and  every  one  was 
so  good  to  me.  I  could  have  Bobby  on  the  footboard 
of  my  bed  as  long  as  I  wanted  him,  and  he  would  crow 
whenever  I  told  him  to.  I  kept  Grace  Greenwood  beside 
me,  and  spoiled  her  dress  making  her  take  some  of  each 
dose  of  medicine  I  did,  but  Shelley  wrote  that  she  was 
saving  goods  and  she  would  make  her  another  as  soon  as 
she  came  home.  I  made  mother  put  red  flannel  on  Grace's 
chest  and  around  her  neck,  until  I  could  hardly  find  her 
mouth  when  she  had  to  take  her  medicine,  but  she  swal- 
lowed it  down  all  right,  or  she  got  her  nose  held,  until  she 
did.  She  was  not  nearly  so  sick  as  I  was,  though.  We 
both  grew  better  together,  and  when  Dr.  Fenner  brought 
me  candy,  she  had  her  share. 

When  I  began  to  get  well  it  was  lovely.  Such  toast, 
chicken  broth,  and  squirrels,  as  mother  always  had.  I 
even  got  the  chicken  liver,  oranges,  and  all  of  them  gave 
me  everything  they  had  that  I  wanted — I  must  almost 
have  died  to  make  them  act  like  that ! 

Laddie  and  father  would  take  me  up  wrapped  in  blank- 
ets and  hold  me  to  rest  my  back.  Father  would  rock 
me  and  sing  about  "Young  Johnny,"  just  as  he  had  when 
I  was  little.  We  always  laughed  at  it,  we  knew  it  was  a 
fool  song,  but  we  liked  it.  The  tune  was  smooth  and 
sleepy-like  and  the  words  went: 

"One  day  young  Johnny,  he  did  go, 
Way  down  in  the  meadow  for  to  mow. 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  0! 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  321 

He  scarce  had  mowed  twice  round  the  field, 
When  a  pesky  sarpent  bit  him  on  the  heel, 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  O! 

He  threw  the  scythe  upon  the  ground, 
An'  shut  his  eyes,  and  looked  all  round, 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  0! 

He  took  the  sarpent  in  his  hand, 
And  then  ran  home  to  Molly  Bland, 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  0! 

O  Molly  dear,  and  don't  you  see, 
This  pesky  sarpent  that  bit  me? 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  01 

O  Johnny  dear,  why  did  you  go, 
Way  down  in  the  meadow  for  to  mow? 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  O! 

O  Molly  dear,  I  thought  you  knowed 
Twas  daddy's  grass,  and  it  must  be  mowed, 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  O! 

Now  all  young  men  a  warning  take, 
And  don't  get  bit  by  a  rattlesnake. 
Li-tu-di-nan-incty,  tu-di-nan-incty,  noddy  0!" 

All  of  them  told  me  stories,  read  to  me,  and  Frank,  one 
of  my  big  gone-away  brothers,  sent  me  the  prettiest  little 
book.  It  had  a  green  cover  with  gold  on  the  back,  and 
it  was  full  of  stories  and  poems,  not  so  very  hard,  because 
I  could  read  every  one  of  them,  with  help  on  a  few  words. 
The  piece  I  liked  best  was  poetry.  If  it  hadn't  been  for 
that,  I'm  afraid,  I  was  having  such  a  good  time,  I'd  have 
lain  there  until  I  forgot  how  to  walk,  with  all  of  them  try- 
ing to  see  who  could  be  nicest  to  me.  The  ones  who 
really  could,  were  Laddie  and  the  Princess,  except  mother. 


322  LADDIE 

Laddie  lifted  me  most  carefully,  the  Princess  told  the  best 
stories,  but  after  all,  if  the  burning  and  choking  grew  so 
bad  I  could  scarcely  stand  it,  mother  could  lay  her  hand 
on  my  head  and  say,  "Poor  child,"  in  a  way  that  made 
me  work  to  keep  on  breathing.  Maybe  I  only  thought 
I  loved  Laddie  best.  I  guess  if  I  had  been  forced  to  take 
my  choice  when  I  had  the  fever,  I'd  have  stuck  pretty 
tight  to  mother.  Even  Dr.  Fenner  said  if  I  pulled  through 
she'd  have  to  make  me.  I  might  have  been  lying  there 
yet,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  book  Frank  sent  me,  with  the 
poetry  piece  in  it.     It  began: 

"Somewhere  on  a  sunny  bank,  buttercups  are  bright, 
Somewhere  'mid  the  frozen  grass,  peeps  the  daisy  white." 

I  read  that  so  often  I  could  repeat  it  quite  as  well  with 
the  book  shut  as  open,  and  every  time  I  read  it,  I  wanted 
outdoors  worse.     In  once  place  it  ran: 

"Welcome,  yellow  buttercups,  welcome  daisies  white, 
Ye  are  in  my  spirit  visioned  a  delight. 
Coming  in  the  springtime  of  sunny  hours  to  tell, 
Speaking  to  our  hearts  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well." 

That  piece  helped  me  out  of  bed,  and  the  blue  gander 
screaming  opened  the  door.  It  was  funny  about  it  too. 
I  don't  know  why  it  worked  on  me  that  way;  it  just  kept 
singing  in  my  heart  all  day,  and  I  could  shut  my  eyes  and 
go  to  sleep  seeing  buttercups  in  a  gold  sheet  all  over  our 
Big  Hill,  although  there  never  was  a  single  one  there;  and 
meadows  full  of  daisies,  which  were  things  father  said 
were  a  pest  he  couldn't  tolerate,  because  they  spread  so, 
and  he  grubbed  up  every  one  he  found.     Yet  that  piece 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  323 

filled  our  meadow  until  I  imagined  I  could  roll  on  daisies. 
They  might  be  a  pest  to  farmers,  but  sheets  of  them  were 
pretty  good  if  you  were  burning  with  fever.  Between  the 
buttercups  and  the  daisies  I  left  the  bed  with  a  light  head 
and  wobbly  legs. 

Of  course  I  wasn't  an  idiot.  I  knew  when  I  looked 
from  our  south  window  exactly  what  was  to  be  seen. 
The  person  who  wrote  that  piece  was  the  idiot.  It  sang 
and  sounded  pretty,  and  it  pulled  you  up  and  pushed  you 
out,  but  really  it  was  a  fool  thing,  as  I  very  well  knew. 
I  couldn't  imagine  daisies  peeping  through  frozen  grass. 
Any  baby  should  have  known  they  bloomed  in  July. 
Skunk  cabbage  always  came  first,  and  hepatica.  If  I  had 
looked  from  any  of  our  windows  and  seen  daisies  and 
buttercups  in  March,  I'd  have  fallen  over  with  the  shock. 
I  knew  there  would  be  frozen  brown  earth,  last  year's 
dead  leaves,  caved-in  apple  and  potato  holes,  the  cabbage 
row  almost  gone,  puddles  of  water  and  mud  everywhere, 
and  I  would  hear  geese  scream  and  hens  sing.  And  yet 
that  poem  kept  pulling  and  pulling,  and  I  was  happy  as 
a  queen — I  wondered  if  they  were  for  sure;  mother  had 
doubts — the  day  I  was  wrapped  in  shawls  and  might  sit 
an  hour  in  the  sun  on  the  top  board  of  the  back  fence, 
where  I  could  see  the  barn,  orchard,  the  creek  and  the 
meadow,  as  you  never  could  in  summer  because  of  the 
leaves.  I  wasn't  looking  for  buttercups  and  daisies 
either.     I  mighty  well  knew  there  wouldn't  be  any. 

But  the  sun  was  there.  A  little  taste  of  willow,  oak 
and  maple  was  in  the  air.  You  could  see  the  buds  growing 
fat  too,  and  you  could  smell  them.     If  you  opened  your 


324  LADDIE 

eyes  and  looked  in  any  direction  you  could  see  blue  sky, 
big,  ragged  white  clouds,  bare  trees,  muddy  earth  with 
grassy  patches,  and  white  spots  on  the  shady  sides  where 
unmelted  snow  made  the  icy  feel  in  the  air,  even  when 
the  sun  shone.  You  couldn't  hear  yourself  think  for  the 
clatter  of  the  turkeys,  ganders,  roosters,  hens,  and  every- 
thing that  had  a  voice.  I  was  so  crazy  with  it  I  could 
scarcely  hang  to  the  fence;  I  wanted  to  get  down  and 
scrape  my  wings  like  the  gobbler,  and  scream  louder  than 
the  gander,  and  erow  oftener  than  the  rooster.  There 
was  everything  all  ice  and  mud.  They  would  have 
frozen,  if  they  hadn't  been  put  in  a  house  at  night,  and 
starved,  if  they  hadn't  been  fed;  they  were  not  at  the 
place  where  they  could  hunt  and  scratch,  and  not  pay 
any  attention  to  feeding  time,  because  of  being  so  bursting 
full.  They  had  no  nests  and  babies  to  rejoice  over. 
But  there  they  were!  And  so  was  I!  Buttercups  and 
daisies  be-hanged!  Ice  and  mud  really!  But  if  you 
breathed  that  air,  and  shut  your  eyes,  north,  you  could 
see  blue  flags,  scarlet  lilies,  buttercups,  cattails  and  red- 
birds  sailing  above  them;  east,  there  would  be  apple 
bloom  and  soft  grass,  cowslips,  and  bubbling  water,  robins, 
thrushes,  and  bluebirds;  and  south,  waving  corn  with 
wild  rose  and  alder  borders,  and  sparrows,  and  larks  on 
every  fence  rider. 

Right  there  I  got  that  daisy  thing  figured  out.  It 
wasn't  that  there  were  or  ever  would  be  daisies  and  but- 
tercups among  the  frozen  grass;  but  it  was  forever  and 
always  that  when  this  feel  came  into  the  air,  you  knew 
they  were  coming.   That  was  what  ailed  the  gander  and  the 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  325 

gobbler.  They  hadn't  a  thing  to  be  thankful  for  yet,  but 
something  inside  them  was  swelling  and  pushing  because 
of  what  was  coming.  I  felt  exactly  as  they  did,  because  I 
wanted  to  act  the  same  way,  but  I'd  been  sick  enough  to 
know  that  I'd  better  be  thankful  for  the  chance  to  sit  on 
the  fence,  and  think  about  buttercups  and  daisies.  Really, 
one  old  brown  and  purple  skunk  cabbage  with  a  half- 
frozen  bee  buzzing  over  it,  or  a  few  forlorn  little  spring 
beauties,  would  have  set  me  wild,  and  when  a  lark  really 
did  go  over,  away  up  high,  and  a  dove  began  to  coo  in  the 
orchard,  if  Laddie  hadn't  come  for  me,  I  would  have 
fallen  from  the  fence. 

I  simply  had  to  get  well  and  quickly  too,  for  the  won- 
derful time  was  beginning.  It  was  all  very  well  to  lie  in 
bed  when  there  was  nothing  else  to  do,  and  every  one 
would  pet  me  and  give  me  things;  but  here  was  maple 
syrup  time  right  at  the  door,  and  the  sugar  camp  most  fun 
alive;  here  was  all  the  neighbourhood  crazy  mad  at  the 
foxes,  and  planning  a  great  chase  covering  a  circuit  of 
miles  before  the  ground  thawed;  here  was  Easter  and  all 
the  children  coming,  except  Shelley — again,  it  would  cost 
too  much  for  only  one  day — and  with  everything  begin- 
ning to  hum,  I  found  out  there  would  be  more  amusement 
outdoors  than  inside.  That  was  how  I  came  to  study 
out  the  daisy  piece.  There  was  nothing  in  the  silly, 
untrue  lines:  the  pull  and  tug  was  in  what  they  made  you 
think  of. 

I  was  still  so  weak  I  had  to  take  a  nap  every  day,  so 
I  wasn't  sleepy  as  early  at  night,  and  I  heard  father  and 
mother  talk  over  a  lot  of  things  before  they  went  to  bed. 


326  LADDIE 

After  they  mentioned  it,  I  remembered  that  we  hadn't 
received  nearly  so  many  letters  from  Shelley  lately,  and 
mother  seldom  found  time  to  read  them  aloud  during  the 
day  and  forgot,  or  her  eyes  were  tired,  at  night. 

"Are  you  worrying  about  Shelley?"  asked  father  one 
night. 

"Yes,  I  am,"  answered  mother. 

"What  do  you  think  is  the  trouble?" 

"I'm  afraid  things  are  not  coming  out  with  Mr.  Paget 
as  she  hoped." 

"If  they  don't,  she  is  going  to  be  unhappy?" 

"That's  putting  it  mildly." 

"Well,  I  was  doubtful  in  the  beginning." 

"Now  hold  on,"  said  mother.  "So  was  I;  but  what  are 
you  going  to  do?  I  can't  go  through  the  world  with  my 
girls,  and  meet  men  for  them.  I  trained  them  just  as 
carefully  as  possible  before  I  started  them  out;  that  was 
all  I  could  do.  Shelley  knows  when  a  man  appears  clean, 
decent  and  likable.  She  knows  when  his  calling  is  respect- 
able. She  knows  when  his  speech  is  proper,  his  manners 
correct,  and  his  ways  attractive.  She  found  this  man 
all  of  these  things,  and  she  liked  him  accordingly.  At 
Christmas  she  told  me  about  it  freely." 

"  Have  you  any  idea  how  far  the  thing  has  gone  ?" 

"She  said  then  that  she  had  seen  him  twice  a  week  for 
two  months.  He  seemed  very  fond  of  her.  He  had  told 
her  he  cared  more  for  her  than  any  girl  he  ever  had  met, 
and  he  had  asked  her  to  come  here  this  summer  and  pay 
us  a  visit,  so  she  wanted  to  know  if  he  might." 

"Of  course  you  told  her  yes." 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  327 

"Certainly  I  told  her  yes.  I  wish  now  we'd  saved 
money  and  you'd  gone  to  visit  her  and  met  him  when  she 
first  wrote  of  him.  You  could  have  found  out  who  and 
what  he  was,  and  with  your  experience  you  might  have 
pointed  out  signs  that  would  have  helped  her  to  see,  before 
it  was  too  late." 

"What  do  you  think  is  the  trouble?" 

"I  wish  I  knew!  She  simply  is  failing  to  mention  him 
in  her  letters;  all  the  joy  of  living  has  dropped  from  them, 
she  merely  writes  about  her  work;  and  now  she  is  begin- 
ning to  complain  of  homesickness  and  to  say  that  she 
doesn't  know  how  to  endure  the  city  any  longer.  There's 
something  wrong." 

"Had  I  better  go  now?" 

"Too  late!"  said  mother,  and  I  could  hear  her  throat 
go  wrong  and  the  choke  come  into  her  voice.  "She  is 
deeply  in  love  with  him;  he  hasn't  found  in  her  what  he 
desires;  probably  he  is  not  coming  any  more;  what  could 
you  do?" 

"  I  could  go  and  see  if  there  is  anything  I  could  do  ?" 

"She  may  not  want  you.  I'll  write  her  to-morrow  and 
suggest  that  you  or  Laddie  pay  her  a  visit  and  learn  what 
she  thinks." 

"All  right,"  said  father. 

He  kissed  her  and  went  to  sleep,  but  mother  was  awake 
yet,  and  she  got  up  and  stood  looking  down  at  the  church 
and  the  two  little  white  gravestones  she  could  see  from  her 
window,  until  I  thought  she  would  freeze,  and  she  did 
nearly,  for  her  hands  were  cold  and  the  tears  falling  when 
she  examined  my  covers,  and  felt  my  face  and  hands  before 


328  LADDIE 

she  went  to  bed.  My,  but  the  mother  of  a  family  like  ours 
is  never  short  of  a  lot  of  things  to  think  of!  I  had  a  new 
one  myself.  Now  what  do  you  suppose  there  was  about 
that  man? 

Of  course  after  having  lived  all  her  life  with  father  and 
Laddie,  Shelley  would  know  how  a  man  should  look,  and 
act  to  be  right;  and  this  one  must  have  been  right  to  make 
her  bloom  out  in  winter  the  way  other  things  do  in  spring; 
and  now  what  could  be  wrong?  Maybe  city  girls  were 
prettier  than  Shelley.  But  all  women  were  made  alike 
on  the  outside,  and  that  was  as  far  as  you  could  see.  You 
couldn't  find  out  whether  they  had  pure  blood,  true  hearts, 
or  clean  souls.  No  girl  could  be  so  very  much  prettier 
than  Shelley;  they  simply  were  not  made  that  way.  She 
knew  how  to  behave;  she  had  it  beaten  into  her,  like  all 
of  us.  And  she  knew  her  books,  what  our  schools  could 
teach  her,  and  Groveville,  and  Lucy,  who  had  city  chances 
for  years,  and  there  never  was  a  day  at  our  house  when 
books  and  papers  were  not  read  and  discussed,  and  your 
spelling  was  hammered  into  you  standing  in  rows  against 
the  wall,  and  memory  tests — what  on  earth  could  be  the 
matter  with  Shelley  that  a  man  who  could  make  her  look 
and  act  as  she  did  at  Christmas,  would  now  make  her  un- 
happy? Sometimes  I  wanted  to  be  grown  up  dreadfully, 
and  again,  times  like  that,  I  wished  my  bed  could  stay  in 
mother's  room,  and  I  could  creep  behind  father's  paper 
and  go  to  sleep  between  his  coat  and  vest,  and  have  him 
warm  my  feet  in  his  hands  forever. 

This  world  was  too  much  for  me.  I  never  worked  and 
worried  in  all  my  life  as  I  had  over  Laddie  and  the  Prill- 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  329 

cess,  and  Laddie  said  I,  myself,  never  would  know  how  I 
had  helped  him.  Of  course  nothing  was  settled;  he  had 
to  try  to  make  her  love  him  by  teaching  her  how  lovable 
he  was.  We  knew,  because  we  always  had  known  him, 
but  she  was  a  stranger  and  had  to  learn.  It  was  mighty 
fine  for  him  that  he  could  force  his  way  past  the  dogs, 
Thomas,  the  other  men,  her  half-crazy  father,  and  through 
the  locked  door,  and  go  there  to  try  to  make  her  see,  on 
Sunday  nights,  and  week  days,  every  single  chance  he 
could  invent,  and  he  could  think  up  more  reasons  for 
going  to  Pryors'  than  mother  could  for  putting  out  an 
extra  wash. 

Now  just  as  I  got  settled  a  little  about  him,  and  we 
could  see  they  really  wanted  him  there,  at  least  the 
Princess  and  her  mother  did,  and  Mr.  Pryor  must  have 
been  fairly  decent  or  Laddie  never  would  have  gone;  and 
the  Princess  came  to  our  house  to  bring  me  things  to  eat, 
and  ask  how  mother  was,  and  once  to  learn  how  she  em- 
broidered Sally's  wedding  chemise,  and  social  things  like 
that;  and  when  father  acted  as  if  he  liked  her  so  much  he 
hadn't  a  word  to  say,  and  mother  seemed  to  begin  to  feel 
as  if  Laddie  and  the  Princess  could  be  trusted  to  fix  it  up 
about  God;  and  the  old  mystery  didn't  matter  after  all; 
why,  here  Shelley  popped  up  with  another  mystery,  and  it 
belonged  to  us.  But  whatever  ailed  that  man  I  couldn't 
possibly  think.  It  had  got  to  be  him,  for  Shelley  was  so 
all  right  at  Christmas,  it  made  her  look  that  pretty  we 
hardly  knew  her. 

I  was  thinking  about  her  until  I  scarcely  could  stud} 
my  lessons,  so  I  could  recite  to  Laddie  at  night,  and  nc 


330  LADDIE 

fall  so  far  behind  at  school.  Miss  Amelia  offered  to  hear 
me,  but  I  just  begged  Laddie,  and  father  could  see  that  he 
taught  me  fifty  things  in  a  lesson  that  you  could  tell  to 
look  at  Miss  Amelia,  she  never  knew.  Why,  he  couldn't 
hear  me  read: 

"We  charged  upon  a  flock  of  geese, 
And  put  them  all  to  flight, 
Except  one  sturdy  gander 

That  thought  to  show  us  fight," — 

without  teaching  me  that  the  oldest  picture  in  all  the 
world  was  made  of  a  row  of  geese,  some  of  which  were 
kinds  we  then  had — the  earth  didn't  seem  so  old  when 
you  thought  of  that — and  how  a  flock  of  geese  once 
wakened  an  army  and  saved  a  city,  and  how  far  wild 
geese  could  fly  without  alighting  in  migration,  and  every- 
thing you  could  think  of  about  geese,  only  he  didn't  know 
why  eating  the  same  grass  made  feathers  on  geese  and  wool 
on  sheep.  Anyway,  Miss  Amelia  never  told  you  a  word 
but  what  was  in  the  book,  and  how  to  read  and  spell  it. 
May  said  that  father  was  very  much  disappointed  in  her5 
and  he  was  never  going  to  hire  another  teacher  until  he 
met  and  talked  with  her,  no  matter  what  kind  of  letters 
she  could  send.  He  was  not  going  to  help  her  get  a  sum- 
mer school,  and  O  my  soul!  I  hope  no  one  does,  for  if  they 
do,  I  have  to  go,  and  I'd  rather  die  than  go  to  school  in  the 
summer. 

Leon  came  in  about  that  time  with  more  fox  stories. 
Been  in  Jacob  Hood's  chicken  house  and  taken  his  best 
Dorking  rooster,  and  father  said  it  was  time  to  do  some- 
thing.    He  never  said  a  word  so  long  as  they  took  Deams', 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  331 

except  they  should  have  barn  room  for  their  geese,  but 
when  anything  was  the  matter  at  Hoods'  father  and 
mother  started  doing  something  the  instant  they  heard  of 
it.  So  father  and  Laddie  rode  around  the  neighbourhood 
and  talked  it  over,  and  the  next  night  they  had  a  meeting 
at  our  schoolhouse;  men  for  miles  came,  and  they  planned 
a  regular  old-fashioned  foxchase,  and  every  one  was  wild 
about  it. 

Laddie  told  it  at  Pryors'  and  the  Princess  wanted  to  go; 
she  asked  to  go  with  him,  and  if  you  please,  Mr.  Pryor 
wanted  to  go  too,  and  their  Thomas.  They  attended  the 
meeting  to  tell  how  people  chase  foxes  in  England,  where 
they  seem  to  hunt  them  most  of  the  time.  Father  said: 
"Thank  God  for  even  a  foxchase,  if  it  will  bring  Mr.  Pryor 
among  his  neighbours  and  help  him  to  act  sensibly."  They 
planned  to  go  away  fifteen  miles  or  farther,  and  form  a  big 
circle  of  men  from  all  directions,  some  walking  in  a  line, 
and  others  riding  to  bring  back  any  foxes  that  escape, 
and  with  dogs,  and  guns,  to  rout  out  every  one  they 
could  find,  and  kill  them  so  they  wouldn't  take  the  geese, 
little  pigs,  lambs,  and  Hoods'  Dorking  rooster.  Laddie 
had  a  horn  that  Mr.  Pryor  gave  him,  when  he  told  him 
this  country  was  showing  signs  of  becoming  civilized  at 
last;  but  Leon  grinned  and  said  he'd  beat  that. 

Then  when  you  wanted  him,  he  was  in  the  wood  house 
loft  at  work,  but  father  said  he  couldn't  get  into  mischief 
there.  He  should  have  seen  that  churn  when  it  was  full 
of  wedding  breakfast!  One  night  I  begged  so  hard  and 
promised  so  faithfully  he  trusted  me;  he  did  often,  after 
I  didn't  tell  about  the  Station;  and  I  went  to  the  loft  with 


332  LADDIE 

him,  and  watched  him  work  an  hour.  He  had  a  hollow 
limb  about  six  inches  through  and  fourteen  long.  He  had 
cut  and  burned  it  to  a  mere  shell,  and  then  he  had  scraped 
it  with  glass  inside  and  out,  until  it  shone  like  polished 
horn.  He  had  shaved  the  wool  from  a  piece  of  sheepskin, 
soaked,  stretched,  and  dried  it,  and  then  fitted  it  over  one- 
end  of  the  drumlike  thing  he  had  made,  and  tacked  and 
bound  it  in  a  little  groove  at  the  edge.  He  put  the  skin 
on  damp  so  he  could  stretch  it  tight.  Then  he  punched  a 
tiny  hole  in  the  middle,  and  pulled  through  it,  down  inside 
the  drum,  a  sheepskin  thong  rolled  in  resin,  with  a  knot 
big  enough  to  hold  it,  and  not  tear  the  head.  Then  he 
took  it  under  his  arm  and  we  slipped  across  the  orchard 
below  the  Station,  and  went  into  the  hollow  and  tried  it. 

It  worked!  I  almost  fell  dead  with  the  first  frightful 
sound.  It  just  bellowed  and  roared.  In  only  a  little 
while  he  found  different  ways  to  make  it  sound  by  his 
manner  of  working  the  tongue.  A  long,  steady,  even  pull 
got  that  kind  of  a  roar.  A  short,  quick  one  made  it  bark. 
A  pull  half  the  length  of  the  thong,  a  pause,  and  another 
pull,  made  it  sound  like  a  bark  and  a  yelp.  To  pull  hard 
and  quick,  made  it  go  louder,  and  soft  and  easy  made 
it  whine.  Before  he  had  tried  it  ten  minutes  he  could  do 
fifty  things  with  it  that  would  almost  scare  the  livers  out 
of  those  nasty  old  foxes  that  were  taking  every  one's 
geese,  Dorking  roosters,  and  even  baby  lambs  and  pigs. 
Of  course  people  couldn't  stand  that;  something  had  to 
be  done! 

Even  in  the  Bible  it  says,  "Beware  of  the  little  foxes 
that   spoil  the  vines,"   and   geese,   especially  blue  ones, 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  333 

Dorking  roosters,  lambs,  and  pigs  were  much  more  valu- 
able than  mere  vines;  so  Leon  made  that  awful  thing  to 
scare  the  foxes  from  their  holes — that's  in  the  Bible  too, 
about  the  holes  I  mean,  not  the  scaring. 

I  couldn't  sleep  for  excitement,  and  mother  said  I  might 
as  well,  for  it  would  be  at  least  one  o'clock  before  they 
would  round-up  in  our  meadow  below  the  barn.  All  the 
neighbours  were  to  shut  up  their  stock,  tie  their  dogs,  or 
lead  them  with  chains,  if  they  took  them,  so  when  the 
foxes  were  surrounded,  they  could  catch  them  alive,  and 
save  their  skins.  I  wondered  how  some  of  those  chasing 
people,  even  Laddie,  Leon,  and  father — think  of  that! 
father  was  going  too — I  wondered  how  they  would  have 
liked  to  have  had  something  as  much  bigger  than  the} 
were,  as  they  were  bigger  than  the  foxes,  chase  them  with 
awful  noises,  guns  and  dogs,  and  catch  them  alive — tc 
save  their  skins.  No  wonder  I  couldn't  sleep!  If  they 
had  been  the  foxes,  maybe  they  wouldn't  have  thought  it 
was  so  funny;  but  of  course,  people  just  couldn't  have 
even  their  pigs  and  lambs  taken.  We  had  to  have  wool  to 
spin  yarn  for  our  stockings,  weave  our  blankets  and  cover- 
lids, and  our  Sunday  winter  dresses  of  white  flannel  with 
narrow  black  crossbars  were  from  the  backs  of  our  own 
sheep,  and  we  had  to  have  ham  to  fry  with  eggs,  and  boil 
for  Sunday  night  suppers,  and  bacon  to  cook  the  greens 
with — of  course  it  was  all  right. 

Before  it  was  near  daylight  I  heard  Laddie  making  the 
kitchen  fire,  so  father  got  right  up,  Leon  came  down,  and 
all  of  them  went  to  the  barn  to  do  the  feeding.  I  wanted 
to  get  up  too,  but  mother  said  I  should  stay  in  bed  until 


334  LADDIE 

the  house  was  warm,  because  if  I  took  more  cold  I'd  be 
sick  again.  At  breakfast  May  asked  father  about  when 
to  start  for  Deams'  to  be  ahead  of  the  chase,  and  he  said 
by  ten  o'clock  at  least;  because  a  fox  driven  mad  by  pur- 
suit, dogs,  and  noise,  was  a  very  dangerous  thing,  and  a 

bite  might  make  hy the  same  thing  as  a  mad  dog.     He 

said  our  back  barn  door  opening  from  the  threshing  floor 
would  afford  a  fine  view  of  the  meet,  but  Candace,  May, 
and  Miss  Amelia  wanted  to  be  closer.  I  might  go  with 
them,  if  they  would  take  good  care  of  me,  and  they  prom- 
ised to;  but  when  the  time  came  to  start,  there  was  such 
a  queer  feeling  inside  me,  I  thought  maybe  it  was  more 
fever,  and  with  mother  would  be  the  best  place  for  me,  so 
I  said  I  wanted  to  watch  from  the  barn.  Father  thought 
that  was  a  capital  idea,  because  I  would  be  on  the  east 
side,  where  there  would  be  no  sun  and  wind,  and  it  would 
be  perfectly  safe;  also,  I  really  could  see  what  was  going 
on  better  from  that  height  than  on  the  ground. 

The  sun  was  going  to  shine,  but  it  hadn't  peeped  above 
Deams'  strawstack  when  father  on  his  best  saddle  horse, 
and  Laddie  on  Flos,  rode  away,  their  eyes  shining,  their 
faces  red,  their  blood  pounding  so  it  made  their  voices 
sound  excited  and  different.  Leon  was  to  go  on  foot. 
Father  said  he  would  ride  a  horse  to  death.  He  just 
grinned  and  never  made  a  word  of  complaint.  Seemed 
funny  for  him. 

"I  was  over  having  a  little  confidential  chat  with  my 
horse,  last  night,"  he  said,  "and  next  year  we'll  be  in 
the  chase,  and  we'll  show  you  how  to  take  fences,  and  cut 
curves;  just  you  wait!" 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  335 

"Leon,  don't  build  so  on  that  horse,"  wailed  mother. 
"I'm  sure  that  money  was  stolen  like  ours,  and  the  owner 
will  claim  it !     I  feel  it  in  my  bones ! " 

"Aw,  shucks!"  said  Leon.  "That  money  is  mine.  He 
won't  either!" 

When  they  started,  father  took  Leon  behind  him  to  ride 
as  far  as  the  county  line.  He  said  he  would  go  slowly,  and 
it  wouldn't  hurt  the  horse,  but  Leon  slipped  off  at  Hoods', 
and  said  he'd  go  with  their  boys,  so  father  let  him,  because 
light  as  Leon  was,  both  of  them  were  quite  a  load  for  one 
horse.  Laddie  went  to  ride  with  the  Princess.  We  could 
see  people  moving  around  in  Pryors'  barnyard  when  our 
men  started.  Candace  washed,  Miss  Amelia  wiped  the 
dishes,  May  swept,  and  all  of  them  made  the  beds,  and 
then  they  went  to  Deams'  while  I  stayed  with  mother. 
When  she  thought  it  was  time,  she  bundled  me  up  warmly, 
and  I  went  to  the  barn.  Father  had  the  east  doors  stand- 
ing open  for  me,  so  I  could  sit  in  the  sun,  hang  my  feet 
against  the  warm  boards  and  see  every  inch  of  our  meadow 
where  the  meet  was  to  be.  I  was  really  too  warm  there, 
and  had  to  take  off  the  scarf,  untie  my  hood,  and  unbutton 
my  coat. 

It  was  a  trifle  muddy,  but  the  frost  had  not  left  the 
ground  yet,  the  sparrows  were  singing  fit  to  burst,  so  were 
the  hens.  I  didn't  care  much  for  the  music  of  the  hen, 
but  I  could  see  she  meant  well.  She  liked  her  nest  quite 
as  much  as  the  red  velvet  bird  with  black  wings,  or  the 
bubbly  yellow  one,  and  as  for  baby  chickens,  from  the  first 
peep  they  beat  a  little  naked,  blind,  wobbly  tree  bird,  so 
any  hen  had  a  right  to  sing  for  joy  because  she  was  going 


336  LADDIE 

to  be  the  mother  of  a  large  family  of  them.  A  hen  had 
something  to  sing  about  all  right,  and  so  had  we,  when  we 
thought  of  poached  eggs  and  fried  chicken.  When  I 
remembered  them,  I  saw  that  it  was  no  wonder  the  useful 
hen  warbled  so  proudlike;  but  that  was  all  nonsense,  for 
I  don't  suppose  a  hen  ever  tasted  poached  eggs,  and  surely 
she  wouldn't  be  happy  over  the  prospect  of  being  fried. 
Maybe  one  reason  she  sang  was  because  she  didn't  know 
what  was  coming;  I  hardly  think  she'd  be  so  tuneful  if 
she  did. 

Sometimes  the  geese,  shut  in  the  barn,  raised  an  awful 
clatter,  and  the  horses  and  cattle  complained  about  being 
kept  from  the  sunshine  and  fresh  air.  You  couldn't 
blame  them.  I  didn't  care  if  the  fox  hunters  never  came, 
there  was  so  much  to  see,  hear,  and  smell.  Bud  perfume 
was  stronger  than  last  week,  many  doves  and  bluebirds 
were  calling,  and  three  days  more  of  such  sunshine  would 
make  cross-country  riding  too  muddy  to  be  pleasant.  I 
sat  there  thinking;  grown  people  never  know  how  much 
children  do  think,  they  have  so  much  time,  and  so  many 
bothersome  things  to  study  out.  I  heard  it  behind  me,  a 
long,  wailing,  bellowing  roar,  and  my  hood  raised  right 
up  with  my  hair.  I  was  in  the  middle  of  the  threshing 
floor  in  a  second,  in  another  at  the  little  west  door,  cut 
into  the  big  one,  opening  it  a  tiny  crack  to  take  a  peep, 
and  see  how  close  they  were. 

I  could  see  nothing,  but  I  heard  a  roar  of  dreadful 
sound  steadily  closing  in  a  circle  around  me.  No  doubt 
the  mean  old  foxes  wished  then  they  had  let  the  Dorking 
roosters  alone.     Closer  it  came  and  more  dreadful.     Never 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  337 

again  did  I  want  to  hear  such  sounds  coming  at  me;  even 
when  I  knew  what  was  making  them.  And  then  away 
off,  beyond  Pryors',  and  Hoods',  and  Dovers',  I  could  see 
a  line  of  tiny  specks  coming  toward  me,  and  racing  flying 
things  that  must  have  been  people  on  horses  riding  back 
and  forth  to  give  the  foxes  no  chance  to  find  a  hiding  place. 
No  chance!  Laddie  and  the  Princess,  Mr.  Pryor  and 
father,  and  all  of  them  were  after  the  bad  old  foxes;  and 
they  were  going  to  get  them;  because  they'd  have  no 

chance Not  with  a  solid  line  of  men  with  raving 

dogs  surrounding  them,  and  people  on  horseback  racing 
after  them,  no!  the  foxes  would  wish  now  that  they  had 
left  the  pigs  and  lambs  alone.  In  that  awful  roaring  din, 
they  would  wish,  oh  how  they  would  wish,  they  were 
birds  and  could  fly!  Fly  back  to  their  holes  like  the  Bible 
said  they  had,  where  maybe  they  liked  to  live,  and  no 
doubt  they  had  little  foxes  there,  that  would  starve  when 
their  mammies  were  caught  alive,  to  save  their  skins. 

To  save  their  skins!  I  could  hear  myself  breathe,  and 
feel  my  teeth  click,  and  my  knees  knock  together.  And 
then!  Oh  dear!  There  they  came  across  our  cornfield. 
Two  of  them!  And  they  could  fly,  almost.  At  least  you 
could  scarcely  see  that  they  touched  the  ground.  The 
mean  old  things  were  paying  up  for  the  pigs  and  lambs 
now.  Through  the  fence,  across  the  road,  straight 
toward  me  they  came.  Almost  red  backs,  nearly  white 
beneath,  long  flying  tails,  beautiful  pointed  ears,  and  long 
tongues,  fire  red,  hanging  from  their  open  mouths;  their 
sleek  sides  pulsing,  and  that  awful  din  coming  through  the 
woods  behind  them.     One  second,  the  first  paused  to 


338  LADDIE 

glance  toward  either  side,  and  threw  back  its  head  to 
listen.  What  it  saw,  and  heard,  showed  it.  I  guess  then 
it  was  sorry  it  ever  took  people's  ham,  and  their  greens, 
and  their  blankets;  and  it  could  see  and  hear  that  it  had 
no  chance — to  save  its  skin. 

"O  Lord!     Dear  Lord!     Help  me!"  I  prayed. 

It  had  to  be  me,  there  was  no  one  else.  I  never  had 
opened  the  big  doors;  I  thought  it  took  a  man,  but  when 
I  pushed  with  all  my  might — and  maybe  if  the  hairs  of 
our  heads  were  numbered,  and  the  sparrows  counted,  there 
would  be  a  little  mercy  for  the  foxes — I  asked  for  help; 
maybe  I  got  it.  The  doors  went  back,  and  I  climbed  up 
the  ladder  to  the  haymow  a  few  steps  and  clung  there, 
praying  with  all  my  might:  "Make  them  come  in!  Dear 
Lord,  make  them  come  in!  Give  them  a  chance!  Help 
them  to  save  their  skins,  O  Lord!" 

With  a  whizz  and  a  flash  one  went  past  me,  skimmed  the 
cider  press,  and  rushed  across  the  hay;  then  the  other. 
I  fell  to  the  floor  and  the  next  thing  I  knew  the  doors  were 
shut,  and  I  was  back  at  my  place.  I  just  went  down  in  a 
heap  and  leaned  against  the  wall  and  shook,  and  then  I 
laughed  and  said:  "Thank  you,  Lord!  Thank  you  for 
helping  with  the  door!  And  the  foxes!  The  beautiful 
little  red  and  white  foxes!  They've  got  their  chance! 
They'll  save  their  skins!  They'll  get  back  to  their  holes 
and  their  babies!     Praise  the  Lord!" 

I  knew  when  I  heard  that  come  out,  that  it  was  exactly 
like  my  father  said  it  when  Amos  Hurd  was  redeemed. 
I  never  knew  father  to  say  it  so  impressively  before, 
because  Amos  had  been  so  bad,  people  really  were  afraid 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  339 

of  him,  and  father  said  if  once  he  got  started  right,  he 
would  go  at  it  just  as  hard  as  he  had  gone  at  wrongdoing. 
I  suppose  I  shouldn't  have  said  it  about  a  fox,  but  I  could 
hear  them  pant  like  run  out  dogs;  and  I  could  hear  myself, 
and  I  hadn't  been  driven  from  my  home  and  babies,  maybe 
— and  chased  miles  and  miles,  either. 

Then  I  just  shook.  They  came  pounding,  roaring  and 
braying  right  around  the  barn,  and  down  the  lane.  The 
little  door  flew  open  and  a  strange  man  stuck  in  his  head. 

"Shut  that  door!"  I  screamed.  "You'll  let  them  in  on 
me,  and  they  bite!     They're  poison!     They'll  kill  me!" 

I  hadn't  even  thought  of  it  before. 

"See  any  foxes?"  cried  the  man. 

"Two  crossed  our  barnyard  headed  that  way!"  I  cried 
back,  pointing  east.     "Shut  the  door!" 

The  man  closed  it  and  ran  calling  as  he  went:  "It's  all 
right!     They  crossed  the  barnyard.     We've  got  them!" 

I  began  to  dance  and  beat  my  hands,  and  then  I  stopped 
and  held  my  breath.  They  were  passing,  and  the  noise 
was  dreadful.  They  struck  the  sides  of  the  barn,  poked 
around  the  strawstack,  and  something  made  me  look  up, 
and  at  the  edge  of  the  hay  stood  a  fox  ready  to  spring. 
If  it  did,  it  would  go  from  the  door,  right  into  the  midst 
thereof.  Nothing  but  my  red  hood  sailing  straight  at  it, 
and  a  yell  I  gave,  drove  it  back.  No  one  hit  the  barn 
again,  the  line  closed  up,  and  went  on  at  a  run  now,  they 
were  so  anxious  to  meet  and  see  what  they  had.  Then 
came  the  beat  of  hoofs  and  I  saw  that  all  the  riders  had 
dropped  back,  and  were  behind  the  line  of  people  on  foot. 
I  watched  Laddie  as  he  flew  past  waving  to  me,  and  I 


34o  LADDIE 

grabbed  my  scarf  to  wave  at  him.  The  Princess  flashed 
by  so  swiftly  I  couldn't  see  how  she  looked,  and  then  I 
heard  a  voice  I  knew  cry:  "Ep!  Ep!  Over  Lad!" 
And  I  almost  fell  dead  where  I  stood.  Mr.  Pryor  sailed 
right  over  the  barnyard  fence  into  the  cornfield,  ripping 
that  dumb-bell  as  he  went,  and  neck  and  neck,  even  with 
him,  on  one  of  his  finest  horses,  was  our  Leon.  His  feet 
were  in  the  stirrups,  he  had  the  reins  tight,  he  almost  stood 
as  he  arose,  his  face  was  crimson,  his  head  bare,  his  white 
hair  flying,  the  grandest  sight  you  ever  saw.  At  the  top 
of  my  voice  I  screamed  after  them,  "Ep!  Ep!  Over 
Lad!"  and  then  remembered  and  looked  to  see  if  I  had  to 
chase  back  the  foxes,  but  they  didn't  mind  only  me,  after 
what  they  had  been  through.  Then  I  sat  down  suddenly 
.again. 

Well!  What  would  father  think  of  that!  Leon  kill  a 
horse  of  ours,  indeed !  There  he  was  on  one  of  Mr.  Pry- 
or's,  worth  as  much  as  six  of  father's  no  doubt,  flying  over 
fences,,  and  the  creek  was  coming,  and  the  bank  was  steep 
behind  the  barn.     I  was  up  again  straining  to  see. 

"Ep!     Ep!     Over!"  rang  the  cry. 

There  they  went!  Laddie  and  the  Princess  too.  I'll 
never  spend  another  cent  on  paper  dolls,  candy,  raisins,  or 
oranges.  I'll  give  all  I  have  to  help  Leon  buy  his  horse; 
then  I'm  going  to  begin  saving  for  mine. 

The  line  closed  up,  a  solid  wall  of  men  with  sticks,  clubs 
and  guns;  the  dogs  raged  outside,  and  those  on  horseback 
stopped  where  they  could  see  best;  and  inside,  raced  back 
and  forth,  and  round  and  round,  living  creatures.  I 
couldn't  count  they  moved  so,  but  even  at  that  distance 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  341 

I  could  see  that  some  were  poor  little  cotton  tails.  The 
scared  things!  A  whack  over  the  head,  a  backward  toss, 
and  the  dogs  were  mouthing  them.  The  long  tailed, 
sleek,  gracefully  moving  ones,  they  were  the  foxes,  the 
foxes  driven  from  their  holes,  and  nothing  on  earth  could 
save  their  skins  now;  those  men  meant  to  have  them. 

I  pulled  the  doors  shut  suddenly.  I  was  so  sick  I  could 
scarcely  stand.  I  had  to  work,  but  at  last  I  pushed  the 
west  doors  open  again.  I  don't  think  the  Lord  helped 
me  any  that  time,  for  I  knew  what  it  took — before,  they 
just  went.  Or  maybe  He  did  help  me  quite  as  much,  but 
I  had  harder  work  to  do  my  share,  because  I  felt  so  dizzy 
and  ill.  Anyway,  they  opened.  Then  I  climbed  the 
upright  ladder  to  the  top  beam,  walked  it  to  the  granary, 
and  there  I  danced,  pounded  and  yelled  so  that  the  foxes 
jumped  from  the  hay,  leaped  lightly  to  the  threshing  floor, 
and  stood  looking  and  listening.  I  gave  them  time  to  hear 
where  the  dreadful  racket  was,  and  then  I  jumped  to  the 
hay  and  threw  the  pitchfork  at  them.  It  came  down 
smash!  and  both  of  them  sprang  from  the  door.  When 
I  got  down  the  ladder  and  where  I  could  see,  they  were  so 
rested  they  were  hiking  across  the  cornfield  like  they  never 
had  raced  a  step  before;  and  as  the  clamour  went  up 
behind  me,  that  probably  meant  the  first  fox  had  lost  its 
beautiful  red  and  white  skin,  they  reached  our  woods  in 
safety.  The  doors  went  shut  easier,  and  I  started  to  the 
house  crying  like  any  blubbering  baby;  but  when  mother 
turned  from  the  east  window,  and  I  noticed  her  face,  I  for- 
got the  foxes. 

"You  saw  Leon!"  I  cried. 


342  LADDIE 

"That  I  did!"  she  exulted,  rocking  on  her  toes  the 
same  as  she  does  at  the  Meeting  House  when  she  is  going 
to  cry,  "Glory!"  any  minute.  "That  I  did!  Ah!  the 
brave  little  chap !     Ah !  the  fine  fellow! " 

Her  cheeks  were  the  loveliest  pink,  and  her  eyes  blazed. 
I  scarcely  knew  her. 

"What  will  father  say?" 

"If  his  father  isn't  every  particle  as  proud  of  him  as 
I  am  this  day,  I've  a  big  disappointment  coming,"  she 
answered.  "If  Mr.  Pryor  chose  to  let  him  take  that  fine 
horse,  and  taught  him  how  to  ride  it,  father  should  be 
glad." 

"If  he'd  gone  into  the  creek,  you  wouldn't  feel  so  fine." 

"Ah!  but  he  didn't!  He  didn't!  He  stuck  to  the 
saddle  and  sailed  over  in  one  grand,  long  sweep!  It  was 
fine!     I  hope — to  my  soul,  I  hope  his  father  saw  it!" 

"He  did!"  I  said.  "He  did!  He  was  about  halfway 
down  the  lane.     He  was  where  he  could  see  fine." 

"You  didn't  notice ?" 

"I  was  watching  if  Leon  went  under.  What  if  he  had, 
mother?" 

"They'd  have  taken  him  out,  and  brought  him  to  me, 
and  I'd  have  worked  with  all  the  strength  and  skill  God 
has  given  me,  and  if  it  were  possible  to  us,  he  would  be 
saved,  and  if  it  were  not,  it  would  be  a  proud  moment  for 
a  woman  to  offer  a  boy  like  that  to  the  God  who  gave  him. 
One  would  have  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of !" 

"Could  you  do  it,  like  you  are  now,  and  not  cry, 
mother?"  I  asked  wonderingly. 

"Patience  no!"  said  she.     "Before  long  you  will  find 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  343 

out,  child,  that  the  fountain  head  of  tears  and  laughter  lies 
in  the  same  spot,  deep  in  a  woman's  heart.  Men  were 
made  for  big  things!  They  must  brave  the  wild  animals, 
the  Indians,  fight  the  battles,  ride  the  races,  till  the  fields, 
build  the  homes.  In  the  making  of  a  new  country  men 
must  have  the  thing  in  their  souls  that  carried  Leon  across 
the  creek.  If  he  had  checked  that  horse  and  gone  to  the 
ford,  I  would  have  fallen  where  I  stood!" 

"Father  crossed  the  ford!" 

"True!  But  that's  different.  He  never  had  a  chance 
at  a  horse  like  that !  He  never  had  time  for  fancy  practice, 
and  his  nose  would  have  been  between  the  pages  of  a  book 
if  he  had.  But  remember  this!  Your  father's  hand  has 
never  faltered,  and  his  aim  has  never  failed.  All  of  us  are 
here,  safe  and  comfortable,  through  him.  It  was  your 
father  who  led  us  across  the  wilderness,  and  fended  from 
us  the  wildcat,  wolf,  and  Indian.  He  built  this  house, 
cleared  this  land,  and  gave  to  all  of  us  the  thing  we  love. 
Get  this  in  your  head  straight.  Your  father  rode  a  plow 
horse;  he  never  tried  flourishes  in  riding;  but  no  man  can 
stick  in  the  saddle  longer,  ride  harder,  and  face  any  danger 
with  calmer  front.  If  you  think  this  is  anything,  you 
should  have  seen  his  face  the  day  he  stood  between  me 
and  a  band  of  Indians,  we  had  every  reason  to  think,  I  had 
angered  to  the  fighting  point." 

"Tell  me!     Please  tell  me!"  I  begged. 

All  of  us  had  been  brought  up  on  that  story,  but  we 
were  crazy  to  hear  it,  and  mother  loved  to  tell  it,  so  she 
dropped  on  a  chair  and  began: 

"We  were  alone  in  a  cabin  in  the  backwoods  of  Ohio. 


344  LADDIE 

Elizabeth  was  only  nine  months  old,  and  father  always 
said  a  mite  the  prettiest  of  any  baby  we  ever  had.  Many 
of  the  others  have  looked  quite  as  well  to  me,  but  she  was 
the  first,  and  he  was  so  proud  of  her  he  always  wanted  me 
to  wait  in  the  wagon  until  he  hitched  the  horses,  so  he 
would  get  to  take  and  to  carry  her  himself.  Well,  she  was 
in  the  cradle,  cooing  and  laughing,  and  I  had  my  work  all 
done,  and  cabin  shining.  I  was  heating  a  big  poker 
red-hot,  and  burning  holes  into  the  four  corners  of  a 
board  so  father  could  put  legs  in  it  to  make  me  a  bench. 
A  greasy  old  squaw  came  to  the  door  with  her  papoose 
on  her  back.  She  wanted  to  trade  berries  for  bread. 
There  were  berries  everywhere  for  the  picking;  I  had 
more  dried  than  I  could  use  in  two  years.  We  planted 
only  a  little  patch  of  wheat  and  father  had  to  ride  three 
days  to  carry  to  mill  what  he  could  take  on  a  horse.  I 
baked  in  an  outoven  and  when  it  was  done,  a  loaf  of  white 
bread  was  by  far  the  most  precious  thing  we  had  to  eat. 
Sometimes  I  was  caught,  and  forced  to  let  it  go.  Often 
I  baked  during  the  night  and  hid  the  bread  in  the  wheat 
at  the  barn.  There  was  none  in  the  cabin  that  day  and  I 
said  so.  She  didn't  believe  me.  She  set  her  papoose  on 
the  floor  beside  the  fireplace,  and  went  to  the  cupboard. 
There  wasn't  a  crumb  there  except  cornbread,  and  she 
didn't  want  that.     She  said:  'Brod!     Brod!' 

"She  learned  that  from  the  Germans  in  the  settlement. 
I  shook  my  head.  Then  she  pulled  out  a  big  steel  hunting 
knife,  such  as  the  whites  traded  to  the  Indians  so  they 
would  have  no  trouble  in  scalping  us  neatly,  and  walked 
to  the  cradle.     She  took  that  knife  loosely  between  her 


There  was  only  one  thing  to  do  and  I  did  it 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  345 

thumb  and  second  finger  and  holding  it  directly  above 
my  baby's  face,  she  swung  it  lightly  back  and  forth  and 
demanded:  'Brod!     Brod!' 

"If  the  knife  fell,  it  would  go  straight  through  my  baby's 
lead,  and  Elizabeth  was  reaching  her  little  hands  and 
laughing.  There  was  only  one  thing  to  do,  and  I  did  it. 
I  caught  that  red-hot  poker  from  the  fire,  and  stuck  it  so 
lose  her  baby's  face,  that  the  papoose  drew  back  and 
whimpered.  I  scarcely  saw  how  she  snatched  it  up  and 
left.  When  your  father  came,  I  told  him,  and  we  didn't 
know  what  to  do.  We  knew  she  would  come  back  and 
bring  her  band.  If  we  were  not  there,  they  would  burn 
the  cabin,  ruin  our  crops,  kill  our  stock,  take  everything 
we  had,  and  we  couldn't  travel  so  far,  or  so  fast,  that  on 
their  ponies  they  couldn't  overtake  us.  We  endangered 
anyone  with  whom  we  sought  refuge,  so  we  gripped  hands, 
knelt  down  and  told  the  Lord  all  about  it,  and  we  felt 
the  answer  was  to  stay.  Father  cleaned  the  gun,  and 
hours  and  hours  we  waited. 

"About  ten  o'clock  the  next  day  they  came,  forty 
braves  in  war  paint  and  feathers.  I  counted  until  I  was 
too  sick  to  see,  then  I  took  the  baby  in  my  arms  and 
climbed  to  the  loft,  with  our  big  steel  knife  in  one  hand. 
If  your  father  fell,  I  was  to  use  it,  first  on  Elizabeth,  then 
on  myself.  The  Indians  stopped  at  the  woodyard,  and 
the  chief  of  the  band  came  to  the  door,  alone.  Your 
father  met  him  with  his  gun  in  reach,  and  for  a  whole 
eternity  they  stood  searching  each  other's  eyes.  I  was 
at  the  trapdoor  where  I  could  see  both  of  them. 

"To  the  depths  of  my  soul  I  enjoyed  seeing  Leon  take 


346  LADDIE 

the  fence  and  creek:  but  what  was  that,  child,  to  compare 
with  the  timber  that  stood  your  father  like  a  stone  wail, 
between  me  and  forty  half-naked,  paint  besmeared,  mad- 
dened Indians?  Don't  let  any  showing  the  men  of  to-day 
can  make  set  you  to  thinking  that  father  isn't  a  king 
among  men.  Not  once,  but  again  and  again  in  earlier 
days,  he  fended  danger  from  me  like  that.  I  can  shut 
my  eyes  and  see  his  waving  hair,  his  white  brow,  his  steel 
blue  eyes,  his  unfaltering  hand.  I  don't  remember  that 
I  had  time  or  even  thought  to  pray.  I  gripped  the  baby, 
and  the  knife,  and  waited  for  the  thing  I  must  do  if  an 
arrow  or  a  shot  sailed  past  the  chief  and  felled  father. 
They  stood  second  after  second,  like  two  wooden  men,  and 
then  slowly  and  deliberately  the  chief  lighted  his  big  pipe, 
drew  a  few  puffs  and  handed  it  to  father.  He  set  down 
his  gun,  took  the  pipe  and  quite  as  slowly  and  deliberately 
he  looked  at  the  waiting  band,  at  the  chief,  and  then 
raised  it  to  his  lips. 

"'White  squaw  brave!  Heap  much  brave!'  said  the 
chief. 

"'In  the  strength  of  the  Lord.     Amen!'  said  father. 

"Then  he  reached  his  hand  and  the  chief  took  it,  so  I 
came  down  the  ladder  and  stood  beside  father,  as  the 
Indians  began  to  file  in  the  front  door  and  out  the  back. 
As  they  passed,  every  man  of  them  made  the  peace  sign 
and  piled  in  a  heap,  venison,  fish,  and  game,  while  each 
squaw  played  with  the  baby  and  gave  me  a  gift  of  beads,  a 
metal  trinket,  or  a  blanket  she  had  woven.  After  that 
they  came  often,  and  brought  gifts,  and  if  prowling  Gypsies 
were  pilfering,  I  could  look  to  see  a  big  Indian  loom  up 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  347 

and  seat  himself  at  my  fireside  until  any  danger  was  past. 
I  really  got  so  I  liked  and  depended  on  them,  and  father 
left  me  in  their  care  when  he  went  to  mill,  and  I  was  safe 
as  with  him.  You  have  heard  the  story  over  and  over, 
but  to-day  is  the  time  to  impress  on  you  that  an  exhibition 
like  this  is  the  veriest  child's  play  compared  with  what  I 
have  seen  your  father  do  repeatedly!" 

"But  it  was  you,  the  chief  said  was  brave!" 

Mother  laughed. 

"I  had  to  be,  baby,"  she  said.  "Mother  had  no  choice. 
There's  only  one  way  to  deal  with  an  Indian.  I  had  lived 
among  them  all  my  life,  and  I  knew  what  must  be  done." 

"I  think  both  of  you  were  brave,"  I  said,  "you,  the 
bravest!"  \ 

"Quite  the  contrary,"  laughed  mother.  "I  shall  have 
to  confess  that  what  I  did  happened  so  quickly  I'd  no 
time  to  think.  I  only  realized  the  coal  red  iron  was 
menacing  the  papoose  when  it  drew  back  and  whimpered. 
Father  had  all  night  to  face  what  was  coming  to  him,  and 
it  was  not  one  to  one,  but  one  to  forty,  with  as  many  more 
squaws,  as  good  fighters  as  the  braves,  to  back  them. 
It  was  a  terror,  but  I  never  have  been  sorry  we  went 
through  it  together.  I  have  rested  so  securely  in  your 
father  ever  since." 

"And  he  is  as  safe  in  you,"  I  insisted. 

"As  you  will,"  said  mother.  "This  world  must  have 
her  women  quite  as  much  as  her  men.  It  is  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  heart  to  heart,  business." 

The  door  flew  open  and  Leon  ran  in.  He  was  white 
with  excitement,  and  trembling. 


548  LADDIE 

"Mother,  come  and  see  me  take  a  fence  on  Pryor's 
Rocket!"  he  cried. 

Mother  had  him  in  her  arms. 

"You  little  whiffet !"  she  said.  "You  little  tow-haired 
whiffet!" 

Both  of  them  were  laughing  and  crying  at  the  same 
time,  and  so  was  I. 

''I  saw  you  take  one  fence  and  the  creek,  Weiscope!" 
she  said,  holding  him  tight,  and  stroking  his  hair.  "That 
will  do  for  to-day.  Ride  the  horse  home  slowly,  rub  it 
down  if  they  will  allow  you,  and  be  sure  to  remember  your 
manners  when  you  leave.  To  trust  such  a  child  as  you 
with  so  valuable  a  horse,  and  for  Mr.  Pryor  to  personally 
ride  with  you  and  help  you,  I  think  that  was  a  big  thing 
for  a  man  like  him  to  do." 

"But,  mother,  he's  been  showing  me  for  weeks,  or  I 
couldn't  have  done  it  to-day.  It  was  our  secret  to  sur- 
prise you.  When  I  get  my  horse,  I'll  be  able  to  ride  a 
little,  as  well  as  Mr.  Laddie." 

"Leon,  don't,"  said  mother,  gripping  him  tighter. 
"You  must  bear  in  mind,  word  about  that  money  may 
come  any  day." 

"Aw,  it  won't  either,"  said  Leon,  pulling  away.  "And 
say,  mother,  that  dumb-bell  was  like  country  boys  make 
in  England.  He  helped  me  hunt  the  wood  and  showed 
me,  and  I  couldn't  ride  and  manage  it,  so  he  had  it 
all  day,  and  you  should  have  heard  him  make  it  rip. 
Say,  mother,  take  my  word,  he  was  some  pumpkins  in 
England.  I  bet  he  ordered  the  Queen  around,  when  he 
was  there!" 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  349 

"No  doubt!"  laughed  mother,  kissing  him  and  pushing 
him  from  the  door. 

Some  people  are  never  satisfied.  After  that  splendid 
riding  and  the  perfect  day,  father,  Leon,  and  Laddie  came 
home  blaming  every  one,  and  finding  fault,  and  trying 
to  explain  how  it  happened,  that  the  people  from  the  east 
side  claimed  two  foxes,  and  there  was  only  one  left  for 
the  west  side,  when  they  had  seen  and  knew  they  had 
driven  three  for  miles.  They  said  they  lost  them  in  our 
Big  Woods. 

I  didn't  care  one  speck.  I  would  as  lief  wear  a  calico 
dress,  and  let  the  little  foxes  have  their  mammies  to  feed 
them;  and  I  was  willing  to  bet  all  my  money  that  we 
would  have  as  much  ham,  and  as  many  greens  next  sum- 
mer as  we  ever  had.  And  if  the  foxes  took  Hoods'  Dork- 
ings again,  let  them  build  a  coop  with  safe  foundations. 
The  way  was  to  use  stone  and  heap  up  dirt  around  it  in 
the  fall,  to  be  perfectly  sure,  and  make  it  warmer. 

We  took  care  of  our  chickens  because  we  had  to  have 
them.  All  the  year  we  needed  them,  but  most  especially 
for  Easter.  Mother  said  that  was  ordained  chicken  time. 
Turkeys  for  Thanksgiving,  sucking  pigs  for  Christmas, 
chickens  for  Easter,  goose,  she  couldn't  abide.  She 
thought  it  was  too  strong.  She  said  the  egg  was  a  symbol 
of  life;  of  awakening,  of  birth,  and  the  chickens  came 
from  the  eggs,  first  ones  about  Easter,  so  that  proved  it 
was  chicken  time. 

I  am  going  to  quit  praying  about  little  things  I  can 
manage  myself.  Father  said  no  prayer  would  bring  an 
answer  unless  you  took  hold  and  pulled  with  all  your  being 


3  so  LADDIE 

for  what  you  wanted.  I  had  been  intending  for  days  to 
ask  the  Lord  to  help  me  find  where  Leon  hid  his  Easter 
eggs.  It  had  been  the  law  at  our  house  from  the  very 
first,  that  for  the  last  month  before  Easter,  aside  from  what 
mother  had  to  have  for  the  house,  all  of  us  might  gather 
every  egg  we  could  find  and  keep  them  until  Easter.  If 
we  could  locate  the  hiding  place  of  any  one  else,  we  might 
take  all  theirs.  The  day  before  Easter  they  were  brought 
in,  mother  put  aside  what  she  required,  and  the  ©ne  who 
had  the  most  got  to  sell  all  of  them  and  take  the  money. 
Sometimes  there  were  two  washtubs  full,  and  what  they 
brought  was  worth  having,  for  sure.  So  we  watched  all 
year  for  safe  places,  and  when  the  time  came  we  almost 
ran  after  the  hens  with  a  basket.  Because  Laddie  and 
Leon  were  bigger  they  could  outrun  us,  and  lots  of  hens 
laid  in  the  barn,  so  there  the  boys  always  had  first  chance. 
Often  during  the  month  we  would  find  and  take  each 
other's  eggs  a  dozen  times.  We  divided  them,  and  hid 
part  in  different  places,  so  that  if  either  were  found  there 
would  still  be  some  left. 

Laddie  had  his  in  the  hopper  of  the  cider  press  right 
on  the  threshing  floor,  and  as  he  was  sure  to  get  more 
than  I  had  anyway,  I  usually  put  mine  with  his.  May 
had  hers  some  place,  and  where  Leon  had  his,  none  of  us 
could  find  or  imagine.  I  almost  lay  awake  of  nights  try- 
ing to  think,  and  every  time  I  thought  of  a  new  place,  the 
next  day  I  would  look,  and  they  wouldn't  be  there.  Three 
days  before  Easter,  mother  began  to  cook  and  get  the 
big  dinner  ready,  and  she  ran  short  of  eggs.  She  told  me 
to  go  to  the  barn  and  tell  the  boys  that  each  of  them  must 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  351 

send  her  a  dozen  as  quickly  as  they  could.  Of  course 
that  was  fair,  if  she  made  both  give  up  the  same  number. 
So  I  went  to  the  barn. 

The  lane  was  muddy,  and  as  I  had  been  sick,  I  wore  my 
rubbers  that  spring.  I  thought  to  keep  out  of  the  deep 
mud,  where  horses  and  cattle  trampled,  I'd  go  up  the 
front  embankment,  and  enter  the  little  door.  My  feet 
made  no  sound,  and  it  so  happened  that  the  door  didn't 
either,  and  as  I  started  to  open  it,  I  saw  Leon  disappearing 
down  the  stairway,  with  a  big  sack  on  his  back.  I  thought 
it  was  corn  for  the  horses,  and  followed  him,  but  he  went 
to  the  cow  stable  door  and  started  toward  the  lane,  and 
then  I  thought  it  was  for  the  pigs,  so  I  called  Laddie  and 
told  him  about  the  eggs.  He  said  he'd  give  me  two  dozen 
of  his,  and  Leon  could  pay  him  back.  We  went  together 
to  get  them,  and  there  was  only  one  there. 

Wasn't  that  exactly  like  Leon?  Leave  one  for  a  nest 
egg!  If  he  were  dying  and  saw  a  joke  or  a  trick,  he'd 
stop  to  play  it  before  he  finished,  if  he  possibly  could. 
If  he  had  no  time  at  all,  then  he'd  go  with  his  eyes  twin- 
kling over  the  thoughts  of  the  fun  it  would  have  been  if  he 
possibly  could  have  managed  it.  Of  course  when  we  saw 
that  one  lonely  egg  in  the  cider  hopper,  just  exactly  like 
the  "Last  Rose  of  Summer,  left  to  pine  on  the  stem," 
I  thought  of  the  sack  Leon  carried,  and  knew  what  had 
been  in  it.  We  hurried  out  and  tried  to  find  him,  but  he 
was  swallowed  up.  You  couldn't  see  him  or  hear  a  sound 
of  him  anywhere. 

Mother  was  as  cross  as  she  ever  gets.  Right  there  she 
made  a  new  rule,  and  it  was  that  two  dozen  eggs  must  be 


352  LADDIE 

brought  to  the  house  each  day,  whether  any  were  hidden 
or  not.     She  had  to  stop  baking  until  she  got  eggs. 

Laddie  looked  pretty  glum  when  he  had  to  admit  he 
had  no  eggs;  so  Leon  had  to  hand  over  the  whole  two 
dozen.  Leon  didn't  mind  that,  but  he  said  if  he  must, 
then  all  of  us  should  stay  in  the  dining-room  until  he 
brought  them,  because  of  course  he  couldn't  walk  straight 
and  get  them  in  broad  daylight  with  us  watching,  and  not 
show  where  they  were.  Father  said  that  was  fair,  so 
Leon  went  out  and  before  so  very  long  he  came  back 
with  the  eggs. 

I  thought  until  my  skull  almost  cracked,  about  where 
he  could  have  gone,  and  I  was  almost  to  the  place  where 
the  thing  seemed  serious  enough  that  I'd  ask  the  Lord  to 
help  me  find  Laddie's  eggs,  when  mother  sent  me  to  the 
garret  for  red  onion  skins.  She  had  an  hour  to  rest,  and 
she  was  going  to  spend  it  fixing  decorations  for  our  eggs. 
Of  course  there  were  always  red  and  black  aniline  ones, 
and  yellow  and  blue,  but  none  of  us  ever  liked  them  half 
so  well  as  those  mother  coloured,  herself. 

She  took  the  dark  red  skins  and  cut  boys,  girls,  dogs, 
cats,  stars,  flowers,  butterflies,  fish,  and  everything  im- 
aginable, and  wet  the  skins  a  little  and  laid  them  on  very 
white  eggs  that  had  been  soaked  in  alum  water  to  cut  the 
grease,  and  then  wrapped  light  yellow  skins  over,  and 
then  darker  ones,  and  at  last  layer  after  layer  of  cloth, 
and  wet  that,  and  roasted  them  an  hour  in  hot  ashes  and 
then  let  them  cool  and  dry,  before  unwrapping.  When 
she  took  them  out,  rubbed  on  a  little  grease  and  polished 
them — there  they  were!     They  would  have  our  names, 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  353 

flowers,  birds,  animals,  all  in  pale  yellow,  deep  rich  brown, 
almost  red,  and  perfectly  beautiful  colours,  while  you 
could  hunt  and  hunt  before  you  found  everything  on 
one  egg.  And  sometimes  the  onion  skins  slipped,  and 
made  things  of  themselves  that  she  never  put  on. 

I  was  coming  from  the  bin  with  an  apron  full  of  skins 
and  I  almost  fell  over.  I  couldn't  breathe  for  a  long  time. 
I  danced  on  my  toes,  and  held  my  mouth  to  keep  from 
screaming.  On  the  garret  floor  before  me  lay  a  little 
piece  of  wet  mud,  and  the  faintest  outline  of  a  boot,  a  boot 
about  Leon's  size.  That  was  all  I  needed  to  know.  As 
soon  as  I  could  hold  steady,  I  took  the  skins  to  mother,, 
slipped  back  and  hunted  good;  and  of  course  I  had  to  find 
them — grain  sacks  half  full  of  them — carried  in  the  front 
door  in  the  evening,  and  up  the  front  stairs,  where  no  one 
went  until  bedtime,  unless  there  were  company.  Away 
back  under  the  eaves,  across  the  joists,  behind  the  old 
clothing  waiting  to  be  ripped,  coloured  and  torn  for  carpet 
rags  and  rugs,  Mr.  Leon  had  almost  every  egg  that  had 
been  laid  on  the  place  for  a  month.  Now  he'd  see  what 
he'd  get  for  taking  Laddie's ! 

Then  I  stopped  short.  What  I  thought  most  made 
me  sick,  but  I  didn't  propose  to  lie  in  bed  again  for  a  year 
at  least,  for  it  had  its  bad  parts  as  well  as  its  good;  so  I 
went  straight  and  whispered  to  Laddie.  He  never  looked 
pleased  at  all,  so  I  knew  I  had  been  right.  He  kissed  me, 
and  thanked  me,  and  then  said  slowly:  "It's  mighty  good 
of  you,  Little  Sister,  but  you  see  it  wouldn't  he  fair.  He 
found  mine  himself,  so  he  had  a  right  to  take  them.  But 
i  don't  dare  touch  his,  when  you  tell  me  where  they  are." 


354  LADDIE 

Then  I  went  to  father  and  he  laughed.  How  he  did 
laugh ! 

"Laddie  is  right!"  he  said  at  last.  "He  didn't  find 
them,  and  he  mustn't  take  them.  But  you  may!  They're 
yours!  That  front  door  scheme  of  Leon's  was  fairly  well, 
but  it  wasn't  quite  good  enough.  If  he'd  cleaned  his  feet 
as  he  should,  before  he  crossed  mother's  carpet  and 
climbed  the  stairs,  he'd  have  made  it  all  right.  'His  tracks 
betrayed  him,'  as  tracks  do  all  of  us,  if  we  are  careless 
enough  to  leave  any.  The  eggs  are  yours,  and  to-night 
is  the  time  to  produce  them.  Where  do  you  want  to 
hide  them?" 

Well  of  all  things!  and  after  I  had  stumbled  on  them 
without  pestering  the  Lord,  either!  Just  as  slick  as  any- 
thing! Mine!  I  never  even  thought  of  it.  But  when 
I  did  think,  I  liked  it.  The  more  I  thought,  the  funnier 
it  grew. 

"Under  mother's  bed,"  I  whispered.  "But  I  never 
can  get  them.  They're  in  wheat  sacks,  and  full  so  high, 
and  they'll  have  to  be  handled  like  eggs." 

"I'll  do  the  carrying.     Come  show  me!" 

So  we  took  the  eggs,  and  put  them  under  mother's  bed. 

Of  course  she  and  Candace  saw  us,  but  they  didn't  hunt 
eggs  and  they'd  never  tell.  If  ever  I  thought  I'd  burst 
wide  open !  About  dusk  I  saw  Leon  coming  from  the  barn 
carrying  his  hat  at  his  side — more  eggs — so  I  ran  like 
a  streak  and  locked  the  front  door,  and  then  slipped  back 
in  the  dining-room  and  almost  screamed,  when  I  could 
hear  him  trying  it,  and  he  couldn't  get  in.  After  a  while 
he  came  in,   fussed   around,   and   finally  went  into  the 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  355 

sitting-room,  and  the  key  turned  and  he  went  upstairs. 
I  knew  I  wouldn't  dare  look  at  him  when  he  came  down,  so 
I  got  a  reader  and  began  on  a  piece  I  just  love: 

"A  nightingale  made  a  mistake; 

She  sang  a  few  notes  out  of  tune: 
Her  heart  was  ready  to  break, 

And  she  hid  away  from  the  moon." 

When  I  did  get  a  peep,  gracious  but  he  was  black! 
Maybe  it  wasn't  going  to  be  so  much  fun  after  all.  But 
he  had  the  money  last  year,  and  the  year  before,  and  if 
he'd  cleaned  his  feet  well — I  was  not  hunting  his  eggs, 
when  I  found  them.  "His  tracks  betrayed  him,"  as 
father  said.  I  was  thankful  supper  was  ready  just  then, 
and  while  it  was  going  on  mother  said:  "As  soon  as  you 
finish,  all  bring  in  your  eggs.  I  want  to  wrap  the  ones 
to  colour  to-night,  and  bury  them  in  the  fireplace  so  they 
will  colour,  dry,  and  be  ready  to  open  in  the  morning." 

No  one  said  a  word,  but  neither  Laddie  nor  Leon  looked 
very  happy,  and  I  took  awful  bites  to  keep  my  face 
straight.  When  all  of  us  finished  May  brought  a  lot  from 
the  bran  barrel  in  the  smoke  house,  but  Laddie  and  Leon 
only  sat  there  and  looked  silly;  it  really  was  funny. 

"I  must  have  more  eggs  than  this,"  said  mother. 
"Where  are  they  to  come  from  ?" 

Father  nodded  to  me  and  I  said:  "From  under  your 
bed!" 

"Oh,  it  was  you!  And  I  never  once  caught  you  snoop- 
ing!" cried  Leon. 

"Easy  son!"  said  father.     "That  will  do.     You  lost 


356  LADDIE 

through  your  own  carelessness.  You  left  wet  mud  on  the 
garret  floor,  and  she  saw  it  when  mother  sent  her  for  the 
onion  skins.  You  robbed  Laddie  of  his  last  egg  this 
morning;  be  a  good  loser  yourself!" 

"Well,  anyway,  you  didn't  get  'em,'*  said  Leon  to 
Laddie.     "And  she  only  found  them  by  accident!" 

Then  we  had  a  big  time  counting  all  those  eggs,  and 
such  another  heap  as  there  was  to  sell,  after  mother  filled 
baskets  to  cook  with  and  colour.  When  the  table  was 
cleared,  Laddie  and  Leon  made  tallow  pencils  from  a 
candle  and  wrote  all  sorts  of  things  over  eggs  that  had 
been  prepared  to  colour.  Then  mother  boiled  them  in 
copperas  water,  and  aniline,  and  all  the  dyes  she  had,  and 
the  boys  polished  them,  and  they  stood  in  shining  black, 
red,  blue,  and  yellow  heaps.  The  onion  ones  would  be 
done  in  the  morning.  Leon  had  a  goose  egg  and  mother 
let  him  keep  it,  so  he  wrote  and  wrote  on  it,  until  Laddie 
said  it  would  be  all  writing,  and  no  colour,  and  he  boiled 
it  in  red,  after  mother  finished,  and  polished  it  himself. 
It  came  out  real  pretty  with  roses  on  it  and  lots  of  words  he 
wouldn't  let  any  of  us  read;  but  of  course  it  was  for  Susie 
Fall. 

Next  morning  he  slipped  it  to  her  at  church.  When  we 
got  home,  all  of  us  were  there  except  Shelley,  and  we  had 
a  big  dinner  and  a  fine  time  and  Laddie  stayed  until  after 
supper,  before  he  went  to  Pryors'. 

"How  is  he  making  it?"  asked  Sally. 

You  could  see  she  was  making  it  all  right;  she  never 
looked  lovelier,  and  mother  said  Peter  was  letting  her 
spend  away  too  much  money  on  her  clothes.     She  told 


THE  HORN  OF  THE  HUNTER  357 

him  so,  but  Peter  just  laughed  and  said  business  was  good, 
and  he  could  afford  it,  and  she  was  a  fine  advertisement 
for  his  store  when  she  was  dressed  well. 

"All  I  know  is,"  said  mother,  "that  he  goes  there  every 
whipstitch,  and  the  women,  at  least,  seem  glad  to  have 
him.  He  says  Mr.  Pryor  treats  him  decently,  and  that 
is  more  than  he  does  his  own  family  and  servants.  He 
and  the  girl  and  her  mother  are  divided  about  something. 
She  treats  her  father  respectfully,  but  she's  in  sympathy 
with  her  mother." 

"Laddie  can't  find  out  what  the  trouble  is?" 

"I  don't  think  that  he  tries." 

"Maybe  he'd  feel  better  not  to  know,"  said  Peter. 

"Possibly!"  said  mother. 

"Nonsense!"  said  father. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Garden  of  the  Lord 

"With  what  content  and  merriment, 
Their  days  are  spent,  whose  minds  are  bent 
To  follow  the  useful  plow." 

THAT  spring  I  decided  if  school  didn't  stop  pretty 
soon,  I'd  run  away  again,  and  I  didn't  in  the  least 
care  what  they  did  to  me.  A  country  road  was 
all  right  and  it  was  good  enough,  if  it  had  been  heaped  up, 
levelled  and  plenty  of  gravel  put  on;  and  of  course  our 
road  would  be  fine,  because  father  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners, and  as  long  as  he  filled  that  office,  every  road 
in  the  county  would  be  just  as  fine  as  the  law  would  allow 
him  to  make  it.  I  have  even  heard  him  tell  mother  that 
he  "stretched  it  a  leetle  mite,"  when  he  was  forced  to 
by  people  who  couldn't  seem  to  be  made  to  understand 
what  was  required  to  upbuild  a  nation.  He  said  our 
language  was  founded  on  the  alphabet,  and  to  master  it 
you  had  to  begin  with  "a."  And  he  said  the  nation  was 
like  that;  it  was  based  on  townships,  and  when  a  town- 
ship was  clean,  had  good  roads,  bridges,  schoolhouses, 
and  churches,  a  county  was  in  fine  shape,  and  when  each 
county  was  in  order,  the  state  was  right,  and  when  the 
state  was  prosperous,  the  nation  could  rejoice  in  its 
strength. 

158 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  359 

He  said  Atlas  in  the  geography  book,  carrying  the 
world  on  his  back,  was  only  a  symbol,  but  it  was  a  good 
one.  He  said  when  the  county  elected  him  to  fill  an 
important  office,  it  used  his  shoulder  as  a  prop  for  the 
nation,  so  it  became  his  business  to  stand  firmly,  and  use 
every  ounce  of  strength  and  brains  he  had,  first  of  all  to 
make  his  own  possessions  a  model,  then  his  township, 
his  county,  and  his  state,  and  if  every  one  worked  to- 
gether doing  that,  no  nation  on  earth  had  our  amount 
of  territory  and  such  fine  weather,  so  none  of  them  could 
beat  us. 

Our  road  was  like  the  barn  floor,  where  you  drove:  on 
each  side  was  a  wide  grassy  strip,  and  not  a  weed  the 
length  of  our  land.  All  the  rails  in  the  fences  were  laid 
straight,  the  gates  were  solid,  sound,  and  swung  firmly 
on  their  beams,  our  fence  corners  were  full  of  alders,  wild 
roses,  sumac,  blackberry  vines,  masses  of  wild  flowers 
beneath  them,  and  a  bird  for  every  bush.  Some  of  the 
neighbours  thought  that  to  drive  two  rails  every  so  often, 
lay  up  the  fences  straight,  and  grub  out  the  shrubs  was 
the  way,  but  father  said  they  were  vastly  mistaken.  He 
said  that  was  such  a  shortsighted  proceeding,  he  would 
be  ashamed  to  indulge  in  it.  You  did  get  more  land, 
but  if  you  left  no  place  for  the  birds,  the  worms  and  insects 
devoured  your  crops,  and  you  didn't  raise  half  so  much  as 
if  you  furnished  the  birds  shelter  and  food.  So  he  left 
mulberries  in  the  fields  and  fence  corners  and  wild  cherries, 
raspberries,  grapes,  and  every  little  scrub  apple  tree 
from  seeds  sown  by  Johnny  Appleseed  when  he  crossed 
our  land. 


360  LADDIE 

Mother  said  those  apples  were  so  hard  a  crane  couldn't 
dent  them,  but  she  never  watched  the  birds  in  winter 
when  snow  was  beginning  to  come  and  other  things  were 
covered  up.  They  swarmed  over  those  trees  until  spring, 
for  the  tiny  sour  apples  stuck  just  like  oak  leaves  waiting 
for  next  year's  crop  to  push  them  off.  She  never  noticed 
us,  either.  After  a  few  frosts,  we  could  almost  get  tipsy 
on  those  apples;  there  was  not  a  tree  in  our  orchard  that 
had  the  spicy,  teasing  tang  of  Johnny  Appleseed's  apples. 
Then  too,  the  limbs  could  be  sawed  off  and  rambo  and 
maiden's-blush  grafted  on,  if  you  wanted  to;  father  did 
on  some  of  them,  so  there  would  be  good  apples  lying  be- 
side the  road  for  passers-by,  and  they  needn't  steal  to  get 
them.  You  could  graft  red  haws  on  them  too,  and  grow 
great  big,  little  haw-apples,  that  were  the  prettiest  things 
you  ever  saw,  and  the  best  to  eat.  Father  said  if  it  didn't 
spoil  the  looks  of  the  road,  he  wouldn't  care  how  many  of 
his  neighbours  straightened  their  fences.  If  they  did, 
the  birds  would  come  to  him,  and  the  more  he  had,  the 
fewer  bugs  and  worms  he  would  be  troubled  with,  so  he 
would  be  sure  of  big  crops  and  sound  fruit.  He  said  he 
would  much  rather  have  a  few  good  apples  picked  by 
robins  or  jays,  than  untouched  trees,  loaded  with  wormy 
falling  ones  he  could  neither  use  nor  sell.  He  always 
patted  my  head  and  liked  every  line  of  it  when  I  recited, 
sort  of  cheerful-like  and  pathetic: 

"Don't  kill  the  birds!  the  happy  birds, 
That  bless  the  field  and  grove; 
So  innocent  to  look  upon, 
They  claim  our  warmest  love." 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  361 

The  roads  crossing  our  land  were  all  right,  and  most  of 
the  others  near  us;  and  a  road  is  wonderful,  if  it  is  taking 
you  to  the  woods  or  a  creek  or  meadow;  but  when  it  is 
walking  you  straight  to  a  stuffy  little  schoolhouse  where 
you  must  stand  up  to  see  from  a  window,  where  a  teacher 
is  cross  as  fire,  like  Miss  Amelia,  and  where  you  eternally 
hear  things  you  can't  see,  there  comes  a  time  about  the 
middle  of  April  when  you  had  quite  as  soon  die  as  to  go  to 
school  any  longer;  and  what  you  learn  there  doesn't 
amount  to  a  hill  of  beans  compared  with  what  you  can 
find  out  for  yourself  outdoors. 

Schoolhouses  are  made  wrong.  If  they  must  be,  they 
should  be  built  in  a  woods  pasture  beside  a  stream,  where 
you  could  wade,  swim,  and  be  comfortable  in  summer,  and 
slide  and  skate  in  winter.  The  windows  should  be  cut  to 
the  floor,  and  stand  wide  open,  so  the  birds  and  butterflies 
could  pass  through.  You  ought  to  learn  your  geography 
by  climbing  a  hill,  walking  through  a  valley,  wading 
creeks,  making  islands  in  them,  and  promontories,  capes, 
and  peninsulas  along  the  bank.  You  should  do  your 
arithmetic  sitting  under  trees  adding  hickorynuts,  sub- 
tracting walnuts,  multiplying  butternuts,  and  dividing 
hazelnuts.  You  could  use  apples  for  fractions,  and  tin 
cups  for  liquid  measure.  You  could  spell  everything  in 
sight  and  this  would  teach  you  the  words  that  are  really 
used  in  the  world.  Every  single  one  of  us  could  spell 
incompatibility,  but  I  never  heard  father,  or  the  judge,  or 
even  the  Bishop,  put  it  in  a  speech. 

If  you  simply  can't  have  school  that  way,  then  you 
should  be  shut  in  black  cells,  deep  under  the  ground,  where 


362  LADDIE 

you  couldn't  see,  or  hear  a  sound,  and  then  if  they'd  give 
you  a  book  and  candle  and  Miss  Amelia,  and  her  right- 
hand  man,  Mister  Ruler,  why  you  might  learn  something. 
This  way,  if  you  sat  and  watched  the  windows  you  could 
see  a  bird  cross  our  woods  pasture  to  the  redbird  swamp 
every  few  minutes;  once  in  a  while  one  of  my  big  hawks 
took  your  breath  as  he  swept,  soared,  sailed,  and  circled, 
watching  the  ground  below  for  rabbits,  snakes,  or  chickens. 
The  skinny  old  blue  herons  crossing  from  the  Wabash  to 
hunt  frogs  in  the  cowslip  swale  in  our  meadow,  sailed  so 
slow  and  so  low,  that  you  could  see  their  sharp  bills  stuck 
out  in  front,  their  uneven,  ragged  looking  feathers,  and 
their  long  legs  trailing  out  behind.  I  bet  if  Polly  Martin 
wore  a  blue  calico  dress  so  short  her  spindle-shanks  showed, 
and  flew  across  our  farm,  you  couldn't  tell  her  from  a 
heron. 

There  were  so  many  songs  you  couldn't  decide  which 
was  which  to  save  you;  it  was  just  a  pouring  jumble 
of  robins,  larks,  doves,  blackbirds,  sparrows,  everything 
that  came  that  early;  the  red  and  the  yellow  birds  had  not 
come  yet,  or  the  catbirds  or  thrushes.  You  could  hear 
the  thumping  wings  of  the  roosters  in  Sills'  barnyard 
nearest  the  schoolhouse,  and  couldn't  tell  which  was 
whipping,  so  you  had  to  sit  there  and  wonder;  and  worst 
of  all  you  must  stand  Miss  Amelia  calmly  telling  you  to 
pay  attention  to  your  books  or  you  would  be  kept  in,  and 
all  the  time  you  were  forced  to  bear  torments,  while  you 
watched  her  walk  from  window  to  window  to  see  every 
speck  of  the  fight.  One  day  they  had  thumped  and  fought 
for  half  an  hour;  she  had  looked  from  every  window  in  the 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  363 

room,  and  at  last  there  was  an  awful  whacking,  and  then 
a  silence.  It  grew  so  exciting  I  raised  my  hand,  and 
almost  before  she  nodded  permission,  "Which  whipped?" 
I  asked. 

Miss  Amelia  turned  red  as  a  beet.  Gee,  but  she  was 
mad! 

"I  did!"  she  said.  "Or  at  least  I  will.  You  may- 
remain  for  it  after  school  is  dismissed." 

Now  if  you  are  going  to  be  switched,  they  never  do  it 
until  they  are  just  so  angry  anyway,  and  then  they  always 
make  it  as  hard  as  they  dare  not  to  stripe  you,  so  it  isn't 
much  difference  how  provoked  they  are,  it  will  be  the  same 
old  thrashing,  and  it's  sure  to  sting  for  an  hour  at  least, 
so  you  might  as  well  be  beaten  for  a  little  more  as  hardly 
anything  at  all.  At  that  instant  from  the  fence  not  far 
from  my  window  came  a  triumphant  crow  that  fairly 
ripped  across  the  room. 

"Oh,  it  was  the  Dorking!"  I  said.  "No  wonder  you 
followed  clear  around  the  room  to  see  him  thrash  a 
Shanghai  three  times  his  size!  I  bet  a  dollar  it  was 
great!" 

Usually,  I  wouldn't  have  put  up  more  than  five  cents, 
but  at  that  time  I  had  over  six  dollars  from  my  Easter 
eggs,  and  no  girl  of  my  age  at  our  school  ever  had  half  that 
much.  Miss  Amelia  started  toward  me,  and  I  braced  my 
feet  so  she'd  get  a  good  jolt  herself,  when  she  went  to  shake 
me;  she  never  struck  us  over  the  head  since  Laddie  talked 
to  her  that  first  day;  but  John  Hood's  foot  was  in  the 
aisle.  I  thought  maybe  I'd  have  him  for  my  beau  when 
we  grew  up,  because  I  bet  he  knew  she  was  coming,  and 


364  LADDIE 

stuck  out  his  foot  on  purpose;  anyway,  she  pitched,  and 
had  to  catch  a  desk  to  keep  off  the  floor,  and  that  made 
her  so  mad  at  him,  that  she  forgot  me,  while  he  got  his 
scolding;  so  when  my  turn  came  at  last,  she  had  cooled 
down  enough  that  she  only  marched  past  to  her  desk, 
saying  I  was  to  remain  after  school.  I  had  to  be  careful 
after  that  to  be  mighty  good  to  May  and  Leon. 

When  school  was  out  they  sat  on  the  steps  before  the 
door  and  waited.  Miss  Amelia  fussed  around  and  there 
they  sat.  Then  her  face  grew  more  gobblerish  than  usual, 
and  she  went  out  and  told  them  to  go  home.  Plain  as 
anything  I  heard  May  say  it:  "She's  been  awful  sick, 
you  know,  and  mother  wouldn't  allow  it."  And  then 
Leon  piped  up:  "You  did  watch  the  roosters,  all  the 
time  they  fought,  and  of  course  all  of  us  wanted  to  see  just 
as  badly  as  you  did." 

She  told  them  if  they  didn't  go  right  home  she'd  bring 
them  back  and  whip  them  too;  so  they  had  to  start,  and 
leave  me  to  my  sad  fate.  I  was  afraid  they  had  made  it 
sadder,  instead  of  helping  me;  she  was  so  provoked  when 
she  came  in  she  was  crying,  and  over  nothing  but  the  plain 
truth  too;  if  we  had  storied  on  her,  she'd  have  had  some 
cause  to  beller.  She  arranged  her  table,  cleaned  the  board, 
emptied  the  water  bucket,  and  closed  the  windows.  Then 
she  told  me  I  was  a  rude,  untrained  child.  I  was  rude, 
I  suppose,  but  goodness  knows,  I  wasn't  untrained;  that 
was  hard  on  father  and  mother;  I  had  a  big  notion  to  tell 
them;  and  then,  she  never  whipped  me  at  all.  She  said 
if  I  wanted  her  to  love  me,  I  mustn't  be  a  saucy,  impudent 
girl,  and  I  should  go  straight  home  and  think  it  over. 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  365 

I  went,  but  I  was  so  dazed  at  her  thinking  I  wanted 
her  to  love  me,  that  I  hardly  heard  May  and  Leon  calling; 
when  I  did  I  went  to  the  cemetery  fence  and  there  they 
lay  in  the  long  grass  waiting. 

"If  you  cried,  we  were  coming  back  and  pitch  into 
her,"  said  Leon. 

There  was  a  pointer.  Next  time,  first  cut  she  gave  me, 
I  decided  to  scream  bloody  murder.  But  that  would 
be  no  Crusader  way.  There  was  one  thing  though.  No 
Crusader  ever  sat  and  heard  a  perfectly  lovely  fight  going 
on,  and  never  even  wondered  which  whipped. 

I  wished  we  lived  in  the  woods  the  way  it  was  when 
father  and  mother  were  married  and  moved  to  Ohio. 
The  nearest  neighbours  were  nine  miles,  and  there  wasn't 
a  dollar  for  school  funds,  so  of  course  the  children  didn't 
have  to  go,  and  what  their  fathers  and  mothers  taught 
them  was  all  they  knew.  That  would  not  have  helped 
me  much  though,  for  we  never  had  one  single  teacher 
who  knew  anything  to  compare  with  what  father  and 
mother  did,  and  we  never  had  one  who  was  forever  read- 
ing books,  papers,  and  learning  more  things  that  help,  tc 
teach  other  people.  I  wished  father  had  time  to  take  our 
school.  It  would  have  been  some  fun  to  go  to  him,  be- 
cause I  just  knew  he  would  use  the  woods  for  the  room, 
and  teach  us  things  it  would  do  some  good  to  know  about. 

I  began  debating  whether  it  was  a  big  enough  thing  to 
bother  the  Lord  with:  this  being  penned  ud  in  the  school- 
house  droning  over  spelling  and  numbers,  when  you  could 
smell  tree  bloom,  flower  bloom,  dozens  of  birds  were 
nesting,  and  everything  was  beginning  to  hum  with  life, 


366  LADDIE 

I  couldn't  think  for  that  piece  about  "Spring"  going  over 
in  my  head: 

"I  am  coming,  I  am  coming: 
Hark!  the  little  bee  is  humming: 
See!  the  lark  is  soaring  high, 
In  the  bright  and  sunny  sky; 
All  the  birds  are  on  the  wing: 
Little  maiden,  now  is  spring." 

I  made  up  my  mind  that  it  was  of  enough  importance  to 
call  for  the  biggest  prayer  I  could  think  of  and  that  I  would 
go  up  in  the  barn  to  the  top  window,  stand  on  a  beam, 
and  turn  my  face  to  the  east,  where  Jesus  used  to  be,  and 
I'd  wrestle  with  the  Lord  for  freedom,  as  Jacob  wrestled 
with  the  Angel  on  the  banks  of  the  Jabbok  in  the  land  of 
Ammon.  I  was  just  getting  up  steam  to  pray  as  hard 
as  ever  I  could;  for  days  I'd  been  thinking  of  it,  and  I  was 
nearly  to  the  point  where  one  more  killdeer  crying  across 
the  sky  would  have  sent  me  headlong  from  the  school- 
house  anywhere  that  my  feet  were  on  earth,  and  the  air 
didn't  smell  of  fried  potatoes,  kraut,  sweat,  and  dogs,  like 
it  did  whenever  you  sat  beside  Clarissa  Polk.  When  I 
went  to  supper  one  night,  father  had  been  to  Groveville, 
and  he  was  busy  over  his  papers.  After  he  finished  the 
blessing,  he  seemed  worried,  at  last  he  said  the  funds  were 
all  out,  and  the  county  would  make  no  appropriation,  so 
school  would  have  to  close  next  week. 

Well  that  beats  me!  I  had  faith  in  that  prayer  I  was 
going  to  make,  and  here  the  very  thing  I  intended  to  ask 
for  happened  before  I  prayed.  I  decided  I  would  save 
the  prayer  until  the  next  time  I  couldn't  stand  anything 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  367 

another  minute,  and  then  I  would  try  it  with  all  my  might 
and  see  if  it  really  did  any  good.  After  supper  I  went 
out  the  back  door,  spread  my  arms  wide,  and  ran  down  the 
orchard  to  the  fence  in  great  bounds,  the  fastest  I  ever 
went  in  my  life.  I  climbed  my  pulpit  in  the  corner  and 
tried  to  see  how  much  air  my  lungs  would  hold  without 
bursting,  while  I  waved  my  arms  and  shouted  at  the  top 
of  my  voice:  "Praise  ye  the  Lord!  Praised  be  His  holy 
name!" 

"Ker-awk!"  cried  an  old  blue  heron  among  the  cow- 
slips below  me.  I  had  almost  scared  it  to  death,  and  it 
arose  on  flapping  wings  and  paid  me  back  by  frightening 
me  so  I  screamed  as  I  dodged  its  shadow. 

"What  is  all  this?"  asked  father  behind  me. 

"Come  up  and  take  a  seat,  and  I'll  try  to  tell  you," 
I  said. 

So  he  stepped  on  my  pulpit  and  sat  on  the  top  rail, 
while  I  stood  between  his  knees,  put  my  arms  around  his 
neck,  took  off  his  hat  and  loosened  his  hair  so  the  wind 
could  wave  it,  and  make  his  head  feel  cool  and  good.  His 
hair  curled  a  little  and  it  was  black  and  fine.  His  cheeks 
were  pink  and  his  eyes  the  brightest  blue,  with  long  lashes, 
and  heavier  brows  than  any  other  man  I  ever  have  seen. 
He  was  the  best  looking — always  so  clean  and  fresh,  and 
you  never  had  to  be  afraid  of  him,  unless  you  had  been  a 
bad,  sinful  child.  If  you  were  all  right,  you  could  walk 
into  his  arms,  play  with  his  hair,  kiss  him  all  you  pleased, 
and  there  wasn't  a  thing  on  earth  you  couldn't  tell  him, 
excepting  a  secret  you  had  promised  to  keep. 

So  I  explained  all  this,  and  more  too.     About  how  I 


368  LADDIE 

wanted  to  hunt  for  the  flowers,  to  see  which  bloomed  first, 
and  watch  in  what  order  the  birds  came,  and  now  it  was  a 
splendid  time  to  locate  nests,  because  there  were  no  leaves, 
so  I  could  see  easily,  and  how  glad  mother  would  be  to 
know  where  the  blue  goose  nested,  and  her  white  turkey 
hen;  because  she  wanted  her  geese  all  blue,  and  the  turkeys 
all  white,  as  fast  as  she  could  manage.  Every  little  thing 
that  troubled  me  or  that  I  wanted,  I  told  him.  He  sat 
there  and  he  couldn't  have  listened  with  more  interest  or 
been  quieter  if  I  had  been  a  bishop,  which  is  the  biggest 
thing  that  ever  happened  at  our  house:  his  name  was 
Ninde  and  he  came  from  Chicago  to  dedicate  our  church 
when  it  was  new.  So  father  listened  and  thought  and 
held  his  arms  around  me,  and  kept  asking  questions  until 
I  had  not  a  thing  more  to  tell,  then  he  inquired :  "And 
what  were  you  praising  the  Lord  for,  child  ? " 

"Because  school  is  so  near  out!  Because  I  got  what  I 
was  going  to  pray  for  before  I  asked." 

"And  you  think  the  Lord  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
thing  that  makes  you  happy?" 

"Well,  you  always  go  to  Him  about  what  concerns  you, 
and  you  say,  *  Praise  the  Lord,'  when  things  go  to  please 
you. 

"I  do  indeed!"  said  father.  "But  I  had  thought  of 
this  running  short  of  school  funds  as  a  calamity.  If  I  had 
been  praying  about  it,  I  would  have  asked  Him  to  show 
me  a  way  to  raise  money  to  continue  until  middle  May 
at  least." 

"Oh  father!" 

I  just  crumpled  up  in  his  arms  and  began  to  cry;  to  save 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  369 

me  I  couldn't  help  it.  He  held  me  tight.  At  last  he  said : 
"I  think  you  are  a  little  overstrained  this  spring.  Maybe 
you  were  sicker  than  we  knew,  or  are  growing  too  fast. 
Don't  worry  any  more  about  school.  Possibly  father 
can  fix  it." 

Next  morning  when  I  wakened,  my  everyday  clothes 
lay  across  the  foot  of  the  bed,  so  I  called  mother  and  asked 
if  I  should  put  them  on;  she  took  me  in  her  arms,  and  said 
father  thought  I  had  better  be  in  the  open,  and  I  needn't 
go  to  school  any  more  that  spring.  I  told  her  I  thought 
I  could  bear  it  a  few  more  days,  now  it  was  going  to  be 
over  so  soon;  but  she  said  I  might  stay  at  home,  father 
and  Laddie  would  hear  me  at  night,  and  I  could  take  my 
books  anywhere  I  pleased  and  study  when  I  chose,  if  I 
had  my  spelling  and  reading  learned  at  evening.  Now, 
say  the  Lord  doesn't  help  those  who  call  on  Him  in  faith 
believing! 

Think  of  being  allowed  to  learn  your  lessons  on  the  top 
of  the  granary,  where  you  could  look  out  of  a  window 
above  the  treetops,  lie  in  the  cool  wind,  and  watch  swal- 
lows and  martins.  Think  of  studying  in  the  pulpit  when 
the  creek  ran  high,  and  the  wild  birds  sang  so  sweetly 
you  seemed  to  hear  them  for  the  first  time  in  all  your  life, 
and  hens,  guineas,  and  turkeys  made  prime  music  in  the 
orchard.  You  could  see  the  buds  swell,  and  the  little 
blue  flags  push  through  the  grass,  where  Mrs.  Mayer 
had  her  flowerbed,  and  the  cowslips  greening  under  the 
water  of  the  swale  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  while  there  might 
be  a  Fairy  under  any  leaf.  I  was  so  full,  so  swelled  up 
and  excited,  that  when  I  got  ready  to  pick  up  a  book,  I 


370  LADDIE 

could  learn  a  lesson  in  a  few  minutes,  tell  all  about  it, 
spell  every  word,  and  read  it  back,  front,  and  sideways. 
I  never  learned  lessons  so  quick  and  so  easy  in  all  my  life; 
father,  Laddie,  and  every  one  of  them  had  to  say  so. 
One  night,  father  said  to  Laddie:  "This  child  is  furnishing 
evidence  that  our  school  system  is  wrong,  and  our  methods 
of  teaching  far  from  right." 

"Or  is  it  merely  proof  that  she  is  different,"  said  Lad- 
die, "and  you  can't  run  her  through  the  same  groove 
you  could  the  rest  of  us  ? " 

"A  little  of  both,"  said  father,  "but  most  that  the  sys- 
tem is  wrong.  We  are  not  going  at  children  in  a  way 
to  gain  and  hold  their  interest,  and  make  them  love  their 
work.  There  must  be  a  better  way  of  teaching,  and  we 
should  find  different  teachers.  You'll  have  to  try  the 
school  next  year  yourself,  Laddie." 

"I  have  a  little  plan  about  a  piece  of  land  I  am  hoping 
to  take  before  then,"  answered  Laddie.  "It's  time  for 
me  to  try  my  wings  at  making  a  living,  and  land  is  my 
choice.     I  have  fully  decided.     I  stick  to  the  soil!" 

"Amen!"  cried  father.  "You  please  me  mightily.  I 
hate  to  see  sons  of  mine  thriving  on  law,  literally  making 
their  living  out  of  the  fruit  of  other  men's  discord.  I 
dislike  seeing  them  sharpen  their  wits  in  trade,  buying 
at  the  lowest  limit,  extorting  the  highest.  I  don't  want 
their  horizons  limited  by  city  blocks,  their  feet  on  pave- 
ments, everything  under  the  sun  in  their  heads  that  con- 
cerns a  scheme  to  make  money;  not  room  for  an  hour's 
thought  or  study  in  a  whole  day,  about  the  really  vital 
things  of  life.     After  all,  land  and  its  products  are  the 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  371 

basis  of  everything;  the  city  couldn't  exist  a  day  unless 
we  feed  and  clothe  it.  In  the  things  that  I  consider  im- 
portant, you  are  a  king  among  men,  with  your  feet  on 
soil  you  own." 

"So  I  figure  it,"  said  Laddie. 

"And  you  are  the  best  educated  man  I  have  reared," 
said  father.  "Take  this  other  thought  with  you:  on 
land,  the  failure  of  the  bank  does  not  break  you.  The 
fire  another  man's  carelessness  starts,  does  not  wipe  out 
your  business  or  home.  You  are  not  in  easy  reach  of 
contagion.  Any  time  you  want  to  branch  out,  your 
mother  and  I  will  stand  back  of  you." 

"Thank  you!"  said  Laddie.  "You  backed  none  of 
the  others.  They  would  resent  it.  I'll  make  the  best 
start  I  can  myself,  and  as  they  did,  stand  alone." 

Father  looked  at  him  and  smiled  slowly. 

"You  are  right,  as  always,"  he  said.  "I  hadn't 
thought  so  far.  It  would  make  trouble.  At  any  rate, 
let  me  inspect  and  help  you  select  your  land." 

"That  of  course!"  said  Laddie. 

I  suspect  it's  not  a  very  nice  thing  for  me  to  tell,  but  all 
of  us  were  tickled  silly  the  day  Miss  Amelia  packed  her 
trunk  and  left  for  sure.  Mother  said  she  never  tried 
harder  in  all  her  days,  but  Miss  Amelia  was  the  most  dis- 
tinctly unlovable  person  she  ever  had  met.  She  sym- 
pathized with  us  so,  she  never  said  a  word  when  Leon  sang: 

"Believe  me,  if  all  those  endearing  young  charms, 
Which  I  gaze  on  so  fondly  to-day, 
Were  to  change  by  to-morrow,  and  fleet  in  my  arms, 
Like  fairy-gifts  fading  away, 


372  LADDIE 

Thou  wouldst  still  be  adored,  as  this  moment  thou  at, 

Let  thy  loveliness  fade  as  it  will, 
And  around  the  dear  ruin  each  wish  of  my  heart 

Would  entwine  itself  verdantly  still — " 

while  Miss  Amelia  drove  from  sight  up  the  Groveville 
road. 

As  he  sang  Leon  stretched  out  his  arms  after  her  van- 
ishing form.  "I  hope,"  he  said,  "that  you  caught  that 
touching  reference  to  'the  dear  ruin,'  and  could  anything 
be  expressed  more  beautifully  and  poetically  than  that 
'verdantly  still?'" 

I  feel  sorry  for  a  snake.  I  like  hoptoads,  owls,  and 
shitepokes.  I  envy  a  buzzard  the  way  it  can  fly,  and 
polecats  are  beautiful;  but  I  never  could  get  up  any  sort 
of  feeling  at  all  for  Miss  Amelia,  whether  she  was  birdlike 
or  her  true  self.  So  no  one  was  any  gladder  than  I  when 
she  was  gone. 

After  that,  spring  came  pushing  until  you  felt  shoved. 
Our  family  needed  me  then.  If  they  never  had  known  it 
before,  they  found  out  there  was  none  too  many  of  us. 
Every  day  I  had  to  watch  the  blue  goose,  and  bring  in  her 
egg  before  it  was  chilled,  carrying  it  carefully  so  it  would 
not  be  jarred.  I  had  to  hunt  the  turkey  nests  and  gather 
their  eggs  so  they  would  be  right  for  setting.  There  had 
to  be  straw  carried  from  the  stack  for  new  nests,  eggs 
marked,  and  hens  set  by  the  dozen.  Garden  time  came, 
so  leaves  had  to  be  raked  from  the  beds  and  from  the 
dooryard.  No  one  was  busier  than  I;  but  every  little 
while  I  ran  away,  and  spent  some  time  all  by  myself  in 
the  pulpit,  under  the  hawk  oak,  or  on  the  roof. 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  373 

Coming  from  church  that  Sunday,  when  we  reached 
the  top  of  the  Big  Hill,  mother  touched  father's  arm. 
"Stop  a  minute,"  she  said,  and  he  checked  the  horses, 
while  we  sat  there  and  wondered  why,  as  she  looked  and 
looked  all  over  the  farm,  then,  "Now  drive  to  the  top 
of  the  Little  Hill  and  turn,  and  stop  exactly  on  the  place 
from  which  we  first  viewed  this  land  together,"  she  said. 
"You  know  the  spot,  don't  you?" 

"You  may  well  believe  I  know  it,"  said  father.  "I 
can  hit  it  to  the  inch.  You  see,  children,"  he  went  on, 
"your  mother  and  I  arranged  before  the  words  were  said 
over  us" — he  always  put  it  that  way — I  never  in  my 
life  heard  him  say,  "when  we  were  married";  he  read  so 
many  books  he  talked  exactly  like  a  book — "that  we 
would  be  partners  in  everything,  as  long  as  we  lived. 
When  we  decided  the  Ohio  land  was  not  quite  what  we 
wanted,  she  sent  me  farther  west  to  prospect,  while  she 
stayed  at  home  and  kept  the  baby.  When  I  reached 
this  land,  found  it  for  sale,  and  within  my  means,  I  bought 
it,  and  started  home  happy.  Before  I'd  gone  a  mile,  I 
turned  to  look  back,  and  saw  that  it  was  hilly,  mostly 
woods,  and  there  was  no  computing  the  amount  of  work 
it  would  require  to  make  it  what  I  could  see  in  it;  so  I 
began  to  think  maybe  she  wouldn't  like  it,  and  to  wish  I 
had  brought  her,  before  I  closed  the  deal.  By  the  time 
I  returned  home,  packed  up,  and  travelled  this  far  on  the 
way  back  with  her,  there  was  considerable  tension  in  my 
feelings — considerable  tension,"  repeated  father  as  he 
turned  the  horses  and  began  driving  carefully,  measuring 
the  distance  from  Hoods'  and  the  bridge.     At  last  he 


374  LADDIE 

stopped,  backed  a  step,  and  said:  "There,  mommy,  did 
I  hit  the  spot?" 

"You  did!"  said  mother,  stepping  from  the  carriage 
and  walking  up  beside  him.  She  raised  one  hand  and  laid 
it  on  the  lamp  near  him.  He  shifted  the  lines,  picked  up 
her  hand,  and  held  it  tight.  Mother  stood  there  looking, 
just  silently  looking.  May  jabbed  me  in  the  side,  leaned 
over  and  whispered: 

"Could  we  but  stand  where  Moses  stood, 
And  view  the  landscape  o'er, 
Not  our  Little  Creek,  nor  dinner  getting  cold, 
Could  fright  us  from  that  shore." 

I  couldn't  help  giggling,  but  I  knew  that  was  no  proper 
time,  so  I  hid  my  head  in  her  lap  and  smothered  the  sound 
the  best  I  could;  but  they  were  so  busy  soft-soddering 
each  other  they  didn't  pay  a  bit  of  attention  to  us. 

It  was  May  now,  all  the  leaves  were  fresh  and  dustless, 
everything  that  flowered  at  that  time  was  weighted  with 
bloom,  bees  hummed  past,  butterflies  sailed  through  the 
carriage,  while  birds  at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  all  of  them, 
every  kind  there  was,  sang  fit  to  split;  friendly,  unafraid 
bluebirds  darted  around  us,  and  talked  a  blue  streak 
from  every  fence  rider.  Made  you  almost  crazy  to  know 
what  they  said.  The  Little  Creek  flowed  at  our  feet 
across  the  road,  through  the  blue-flag  swamp,  where  the 
red  and  the  yellow  birds  lived.  You  could  see  the  sun 
flash  on  the  water  where  it  emptied  into  the  stream  that 
crossed  Deams',  and  flowed  through  our  pasture;  and 
away  beyond  the  Big  Hill  arose,  with  the  new  church  on 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  375 

top,  the  graveyard  around  it,  the  Big  Creek  flashing  at  its 
base.  In  the  valley  between  lay  our  fields,  meadows,  the 
big  red  barn,  the  white  house  with  the  yard  filled  with 
trees  and  flowering  shrubs,  beyond  it  the  garden,  all  made 
up,  neat  and  growing;  and  back  of  it  the  orchard  in  full 
bloom. 

Mother  looked  and  looked.  Suddenly  she  raised  her 
face  to  father.  "Paul,"  she  said,  "that  first  day,  did 
you  ever  dream  it  could  be  made  to  look  like  this?" 

"No!"  said  father.  "I  never  did!  I  saw  houses, 
barns,  and  cleared  fields;  I  hoped  for  comfort  and  pros- 
perity, but  I  didn't  know  any  place  could  grow  to  be  so 
beautiful,  and  there  is  something  about  it,  even  on  a  rainy 
November  day,  there  is  something  that  catches  me  in  the 
breast,  on  the  top  of  either  of  these  hills,  until  it  almost 
stifles  me.     What  is  it,  Ruth?" 

"The  Home  Feeling!"  said  mother.  "It  is  in  my 
heart  so  big  this  morning  I  am  filled  with  worship.  Just 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  worship." 

She  was  rocking  on  her  toes  like  she  does  when  she 
becomes  too  happy  at  the  Meeting  House  to  be  quiet  any 
longer,  and  cries,  "Glory!"  right  out  loud.  She  pointed 
to  the  orchard,  an  immense  orchard  of  big  apple  trees 
in  full  bloom,  with  two  rows  of  peach  trees  around  the 
sides.  It  looked  like  a  great,  soft,  pinkish  white  blanket, 
with  a  deep  pink  border,  spread  lightly  on  the  green 
earth. 

"We  planted  that  way  because  we  thought  it  was  best; 
how  could  we  know  how  it  would  look  in  bloom  time? 
It  seems  as  if  you  came  to  these  hilltops  and  figured  on  the 


376  LADDIE 

picture  you  would  make  before  you  cleared,  or  fenced 
a  field/' 

"That's  exactly  what  I  did,"  said  father.  "Many's 
the  hour,  all  told,  that  I  have  stopped  my  horse  on  one  of 
these  hilltops  and  studied  how  to  make  the  place  beautiful, 
as  well  as  productive.  That  was  a  task  you  set  me,  my 
girl.  You  always  considered  beauty  as  well  as  use  about 
the  house  and  garden,  and  wherever  you  worked.  I  had 
to  hold  my  part  in  line." 

"You  have  made  it  all  a  garden,"  said  mother.  "You 
have  made  it  a  garden  growing  under  the  smile  of  the 
Master;  a  very  garden  of  the  Lord,  father." 

Father  drew  up  hei  hand  and  held  it  tight  against  his 
heart. 

"Your  praise  is  sweet,  my  girl,  sweet!"  he  said.  "I 
have  tried,  God  knows  I  have  tried,  to  make  it  first  com- 
fortable, then  beautiful,  for  all  of  us.  To  the  depths  of 
my  soul  I  thank  Him  for  this  hour.  I  am  glad,  Oh  I  am 
so  glad  you  like  your  home,  Ruth!  I  couldn't  endure  it 
if  you  complained,  found  fault  and  wished  you  lived 
elsewhere." 

"Why,  father!"  said  my  mother  in  the  most  surprised 
voice.  "Why,  father,  it  would  kill  me  to  leave  here. 
This  is  ours.  We  have  made  it  by  and  through  the 
strength  of  the  Lord  and  our  love  for  each  other.  All  my 
days  I  want  to  live  here,  and  when  I  die,  I  want  to  lie 
beside  my  blessed  babies  and  you,  Paul,  down  by  the 
church  we  gave  the  land  for,  and  worked  so  hard  to  build. 
I  love  it,  Oh  I  love  it!  See  how  clean  and  white  the  dark 
evergreens  make  the  house  look!     See  how  the  big  chest- 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  377 

nuts  fit  in  and  point  out  the  yellow  road.     I  wish  we  had 
a  row  the  length  of  it ! " 

"They  wouldn't  grow,"  said  father.  "You  mind  the 
time  I  had  finding  the  place  those  wanted  to  set  their 
feet?" 

"I  do  indeed!"  said  mother,  drawing  her  hand  and  his 
with  it  where  she  could  rub  her  cheek  against  it.  "Now 
we'll  go  home  and  have  our  dinner  and  a  good  rest.  I'm 
a  happy  woman  this  day,  father,  a  happy,  happy  woman. 
If  only  one  thing  didn't  worry  me " 

"  Must  there  always  be  a  '  fly  in  the  ointment,'  mother  ? " 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  smile  that  was  like  a  hug  and 
kiss,  and  she  said:  "I  have  found  it  so,  father,  and  I  have 
been  happy  in  spite  of  it.  Where  one  has  such  wide  inter- 
ests, at  some  point  there  is  always  a  pull,  but  in  His  own 
day,  in  His  own  way,  the  Lord  is  going  to  make  every- 
thing right." 

"'Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole,'"  quoted  father. 

Then  she  stepped  into  the  carriage,  and  he  waited  a 
second,  quite  long  enough  to  let  her  see  that  he  was  per- 
fectly willing  to  sit  there  all  day  if  she  wanted  him  to, 
and  then  he  slowly  and  carefully  drove  home,  as  he  al- 
ways did  when  she  was  in  the  carriage.  Times  when  he 
had  us  children  out  alone,  he  went  until  you  couldn't 
see  the  spokes  in  the  wheels.  He  just  loved  to  "  speed 
up"  once  in  a  while  on  a  piece  of  fine  road  to  let  us  know 
how  going  fast  felt. 

Mother  sat  there  trembling  a  little,  smiling,  misty-eyed 
I  was  thinking,  for  I  knew  what  the  "fly  in  the  ointment' 
was.     She  had  a  letter  from  Shelley  yesterday,  ai.d  she 


378  LADDIE 

said  there  wasn't  a  reason  on  earth  why  father  or  Laddie 
should  spend  money  to  come  to  Chicago,  she  would  soon 
be  home,  she  was  counting  the  hours,  and  she  never  wanted 
to  leave  again.  In  the  start  she  didn't  want  to  go  at  all, 
unless  she  could  stay  three  years,  at  the  very  least.  Of 
course  it  was  that  dreadful  man,  who  had  made  her  so 
beautiful  and  happy,  and  then  taken  away  all  the  joy; 
how  could  a  man  do  it  ?  It  was  the  hardest  thing  to  under- 
stand. 

Next  morning  mother  was  feeling  fine,  the  world  was 
lovely,  Miss  Amelia  was  gone,  May  was  home  to  help, 
so  she  began  housecleaning  by  washing  all  the  curtains. 
She  had  been  in  the  kitchen  to  show  Candace  how.  I 
had  all  my  work  done,  and  was  making  friends  with  a 
robin  brooding  in  my  very  own  catalpa  tree,  when  Mr. 
Pryor  rode  up,  tied  his  horse,  and  started  toward  the  gate. 
I  knew  he  and  father  had  quarrelled;  that  is,  father  had 
told  him  he  couldn't  say  "God  was  a  myth"  in  this  house, 
and  he'd  gone  home  mad  as  hops;  so  I  knew  it  would  be 
something  mighty  important  that  was  bringing  him  back. 
I  slid  from  the  tree,  ran  and  opened  the  gate,  and  led  the 
way  up  the  walk.  I  opened  the  front  door  and  asked 
him  in,  and  then  I  did  the  wrong  thing.  I  should  have 
taken  his  hat,  told  him  to  be  seated,  and  said  I  would  see 
if  I  could  find  father;  I  knew  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do 
it,  but  because  of  that  about  God,  I  was  so  excited  I  made 
a  mistake.  I  never  took  his  hat,  or  offered  him  a  chair; 
I  just  bolted  into  the  dining-room,  looking  for  father  or 
mother,  and  left  the  door  wide  open,  so  he  thought  that 
wasn't  the  place  to  sit,  because  I  didn't  give  him  a  chair, 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  379 

and  he  followed  me.  The  instant  I  saw  mother's  face, 
I  knew  what  I  had  done.  The  dining-room  was  no  place 
for  particular  company  like  him,  and  bringing  him  in  that 
way  didn't  give  her  time  to  smooth  her  hair,  pull  shut  her 
dress  band  at  the  neck,  put  on  her  collar,  and  shiny  gold- 
stone  pin,  her  white  apron,  and  rub  her  little  flannel  rag, 
with  rice  flour  on  it,  on  her  nose  to  take  away  the  shine. 
I  had  made  a  mess  of  it. 

There  she  came  right  in  the  door,  just  as  she  was  from 
the  tub.  Her  hair  was  damp  and  crinkled  around  her 
face,  her  neckband  had  been  close  in  stooping,  so  she  had 
unfastened  it,  and  tucked  it  back  in  a  little  V-shaped 
place  to  give  her  room  and  air.  Her  cheeks  were  pink, 
her  eyes  bright,  her  lips  red  as  a  girl's,  and  her  neck  was 
soft  and  white.  The  V-shaped  place  showed  a  little  spot 
like  baby  skin,  right  where  her  neck  went  into  her  chest. 
Sure  as  father  kissed  her  lips,  he  always  tipped  back  her 
head,  bent  lower  and  kissed  that  spot  too.  I  had  seen 
hundreds  of  them  go  there,  and  I  had  tried  it  myself, 
lots  of  times,  and  it  w as  the  sweetest  place.  Seeing  what 
I  had  done,  I  stopped  breathless.  You  have  to  beat  most 
everything  you  teach  a  child  right  into  it  properly  to  keep 
it  from  making  such  a  botch  of  things  as  that.  I  hardly 
dared  peep  at  mother,  but  when  I  did,  she  took  my  breath 
worse  than  the  mistake  I  had  made. 

Caught,  she  stood  her  ground.  She  never  paused  a 
second.  Straight  to  him  she  went,  holding  out  her  hand, 
and  I  could  see  that  it  was  red  and  warm  from  pressing 
the  lace  in  the  hot  suds.  A  something  flashed  over  her, 
that  made  her  more  beautiful  than  she  was  in  her  silk 


380  LADDIE 

dress  going  to  town  to  help  Lucy  give  a  party,  and  her 
voice  was  sweet  as  the  bubbling  warbler  on  the  garden 
fence  when  he  was  trying  to  coax  a  mate  into  the  privet 
bush  to  nest. 

Mother  asked  him  to  be  seated,  so  he  took  one  of  the 
chairs  nearest  him,  and  sat  holding  his  hat  in  one  hand, 
his  whip  in  the  other.  Mother  drew  a  chair  beside  the 
dining  table,  dropped  her  hands  on  each  other,  and  look- 
ing in  his  eyes,  she  smiled  at  him.  I  tell  the  same  thing 
over  about  people's  looks,  but  I  haven't  told  of  this  smile 
of  mother's;  because  I  never  saw  exactly  how  it  was,  or 
what  it  would  do  to  people,  until  that  morning.  Then  as 
I  watched  her — for  how  she  felt  decided  what  would 
happen  to  me,  after  Mr.  Pryor  was  gone — I  saw  something 
I  never  had  noticed  until  that  minute.  She  could  laugh 
all  over  her  face,  before  her  lips  parted  until  her  teeth 
showed.  She  was  doing  it  now.  With  a  wide  smile 
running  from  cheek  to  cheek,  pushing  up  a  big  dimple  at 
each  end,  her  lips  barely  touching,  her  eyes  dancing,  she 
sat  looking  at  him. 

"This  is  the  most  blessed  season  for  warming  up  the 
heart,"  she  said.  "If  you  want  the  half  of  my  kingdom, 
ask  quickly.     I'm  in  the  mood  to  bestow  it." 

How  she  laughed!  He  just  had  to  loosen  up  a  little, 
and  smile  back,  even  though  it  looked  pretty  stiff. 

"Well,  I'll  not  tax  you  so  far,"  he  said.  "I  only  want 
Mr.  Stanton." 

"But  he  is  the  whole  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  King 
to  boot!"  she  laughed,  dimpled,  and  flamed  redder. 

Mr.  Pryor  stared  at  her  wonderingly.     You  could  even 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  381 

see  the  wonder,  like  it  was  something  you  could  take  hold 
of.  I  suppose  he  wondered  what  could  make  a  woman 
so  happy,  like  that. 

"Lucky  man!"  he  said.  "All  of  us  are  not  so  fortun- 
ate." 

"Then  it  must  be  you  don't  covet  the  place  or  the  title," 
said  mother  more  soberly.  "Any  woman  will  crown  the 
man  she  marries,  if  he  will  allow  her.  Paul  went  farther. 
He  compelled  it." 

"I  wonder  how!"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  his  eyes  steadily 
watching  mother's  face. 

"By  never  failing  in  a  million  little  things,  that  taken 
as  a  whole,  make  up  one  mighty  big  thing,  on  which  he 
stands  like  the  Rock  of  Ages." 

"Yet  they  tell  me  that  you  are  the  mother  of  twelve 
children,"  he  said,  as  if  he  marvelled  at  something. 

"Yes!"  cried  mother,  and  the  word  broke  right  through 
a  bubbling  laugh.  "Am  I  not  fortunate  above  most 
women?  We  had  the  grief  to  lose  two  little  daughters 
at  the  ages  of  eight  and  nine,  all  the  others  I  have,  and  I 
rejoice  in  them." 

She  reached  out,  laid  a  hand  on  me,  drew  me  to  her,  and 
lightly  touched  my  arm,  sending  my  spirits  sky-high. 
She  wasn't  going  to  do  a  thing  to  me,  not  even  scold! 
Mr.  Pryor  stared  at  her  like  Jacob  Hood  does  at  Laddie 
when  he  begins  rolling  Greek  before  him,  so  I  guess  what 
mother  said  must  have  been  Greek  to  Mr.  Pryor. 

"I  came  to  see  Mr.  Stanton,"  he  said  suddenly,  and 
crosslike  as  if  he  didn't  believe  a  word  she  said,  and  had 
decided  she  was  too  foolish  to  bother  with   any   longer; 


382  LADDIE 

but  he  kept  on  staring.  He  couldn't  quit  that,  no  matter 
how  cross  he  was.  The  funniest  thing  came  into  my  mind. 
I  wondered  what  on  earth  he'd  have  done  if  she'd  gone 
over,  sat  on  his  lap,  put  her  arms  around  his  neck,  took 
his  face  between  her  hands  and  kissed  his  forehead,  eyes, 
lips,  and  tousled  his  hair,  like  she  does  father  and  our  boys. 
I'll  bet  all  I  got,  he'd  have  turned  to  stonier  stone  than 
Sabethany.  You  could  see  that  no  one  ever  served  him 
like  that  in  all  his  old,  cold,  hard,  cross,  mysterious,  shut-in 
life.  I  was  crazy  to  ask,  "Say,  did  anybody  ever  kiss 
you?"  but  I  had  such  a  close  escape  bringing  him  in 
wrong,  I  thought  it  would  be  wise  not  to  take  any  risks 
so  soon  after.  It  was  enough  to  stand  beside  mother,  and 
hear  every  word  they  said.  What  was  more,  she  wanted 
me,  because  she  kept  her  hand  on  mine,  or  touched  my 
apron  every  little  while. 

"I'm  so  sorry!"  she  said.  "He  was  called  to  town  on 
business.     The  County  Commissioners  are  sitting  to-day." 

"They  are  deciding  about  the  Grovevilie  bridge,  and 
pike?" 

"Yes.     He  is  working  so  hard  for  them." 

"The  devil  you  say!  I  beg  pardon!  But  it  was  about 
that  I  came.  I'm  three  miles  from  there,  and  I'm  taxed 
over  sixty  pounds  for  it." 

"  But  you  cross  the  bridge  every  time  you  go  to  town, 
and  travel  the  road.  Grovevilie  is  quite  a  resort  on  ac- 
count of  the  water  and  lovely  country.  Paul  is  very 
anxious  to  have  the  work  completed  before  the  summer 
boarders  come  from  surrounding  cities.  We  are  even 
farther  from  it  than  you;  but  it  will  cost  us  as  much." 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  383 

"Are  you  insane?"  cried  Mr.  Pryor,  not  at  all  politely; 
but  you  could  see  that  mother  was  bound  she  wouldn't 
become  provoked  about  anything,  for  she  never  stopped 
a  steady  beam  on  him.  "Spend  all  that  money  for 
strangers  to  lazy  around  on  a  few  weeks  and  then  go!" 

"But  a  good  bridge  and  fine  road  will  add  to  their 
pleasure,  and  when  they  leave,  the  improvements  remain. 
They  will  benefit  us  and  our  children  through  all  the 
years  to  come." 

"Talk  about  'the  land  of  the  free'!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor. 
"This  is  a  tax-ridden  nation.  It's  a  beastly  outrage! 
Ever  since  I  came,  it's  been  nothing  but  notice  of  one 
assessment  after  another.  I  won't  pay  it!  I  won't  en- 
dure it.     I'll  move!" 

Mother  let  go  of  me,  gripped  her  hands  pretty  tight 
together  on  the  table,  and  she  began  to  talk. 

"As  for  freedom — no  man  ever  was,  or  is,  or  will  be 
free,"  she  said,  quite  as  forcibly  as  he  could  speak.  "You 
probably  knew  when  you  came  here  that  you  would  find  a 
land  tax-ridden  from  a  great  civil  war  of  years'  duration, 
and  from  newness  of  vast  territory  to  be  opened  up  and 
improved.     You  certainly  studied  the  situation." 

"Studied  the  situation'!"  His  whip  beat  across  his 
knee.  "'Studied  the  situation'!  My  leaving  England 
was — er — the  result  of  intolerable  conditions  there — in 
the  nature  of  flight  from  things  not  to  be  endured.  I 
had  only  a  vague  idea  of  the  States." 

"If  England  is  intolerable,  and  the  United  States  an 
outrage,  I  don't  know  where  in  this  world  you'll  go," 
said  mother  softly. 


384  LADDIE 

Mr.  Pryor  stared  at  her  sharply. 

"Madame  is  pleased  to  be  facetious,"  he  said  sneer- 
ingly. 

Mother's  hands  parted,  and  one  of  them  stretched 
across  the  table  toward  him. 

"Forgive  me!"  she  cried.  "That  was  unkind.  I  know 
you  are  in  dreadful  trouble.  I'd  give — I'd  almost  give 
this  right  hand  to  comfort  you.  I'd  do  nearly  anything 
to  make  you  feel  that  you  need  bear  no  burden  alone; 
that  we'd  love  to  help  support  you." 

"I  believe  you  would,"  he  said  slowly,  his  eyes  watch- 
ing her  again.     "I  believe  you  would.     I  wonder  why!" 

"All  men  are  brothers,  in  the  broader  sense,"  said 
mother,  "and  if  you'll  forgive  me,  your  face  bears  marks 
of  suffering  almost  amounting  to  torture." 

She  stretched  out  the  other  hand. 

"You  couldn't  possibly  let  us  help  you?" 

Slowly  he  shook  his  head. 

"Think  again!"  urged  mother.  "A  trouble  shared  is 
half  over  to  start  with.  You  lay  a  part  of  it  on  your 
neighbours,  and  your  neighbours  in  this  case  would  be 
glad,  glad  indeed,  to  see  you  care-free  and  happy  as  all 
men  should  be." 

"We'll  not  discuss  it,"  he  said.  "You  can't  possibly 
imagine  the  root  of  my  trouble." 

"I  shan't  try!"  said  mother.  "But  let  me  tell  you 
this:  I  don't  care  if  you  have  betrayed  your  country, 
blasphemed  your  God,  or  killed  your  own  child!  So  long, 
as  you're  a  living  man,  daily  a  picture  of  suffering  before 
me,  you're  a  burden  on  my  heart.     You're  a  load  on  my 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  385 

shoulders,  without  your  consent.  I  have  implored  God, 
I  shall  never  cease  to  implore  Him,  until  your  brow  clears, 
your  head  is  lifted,  and  your  heart  is  at  rest.  You  can't 
prevent  me!  This  hour  I  shall  go  to  my  closet  and  beg 
Him  to  have  mercy  on  your  poor  soul,  and  when  His  time 
comes,  He  will.  You  can't  help  yourself,  or  you  would 
have  done  so,  long  ago.  You  must  accept  aid!  This 
must  end,  or  there  will  be  tragedy  in  your  house." 

"Madame,  there  has  been!"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  shaking 
as  he  sat. 

"I  recognize  that,"  said  mother.  "The  question  is 
whether  what  has  passed  is  not  enough." 

"You  simply  cannot  understand!"  he  said. 

"Mr.  Pryor,"  she  said,  "you're  in  the  position  of  a  man 
doubly  bereft.  You  are  without  a  country,  and  without 
a  God.  Your  face  tells  every  passer-by  how  you  are 
enjoying  that  kind  of  life.  Forgive  me,  if  I  speak  plainly. 
I  admire  some  things  about  you  so  much,  I  am  venturing 
positive  unkindness  to  try  to  make  you  see  that  in  shut- 
ting out  your  neighbours  you  will  surely  make  them  think 
more,  and  worse  things,  than  are  true.  I  haven't  a  doubt 
in  my  mind  but  that  your  trouble  is  not  one  half  so  dread- 
ful as  you  imagine  while  brooding  over  it.  We  will  pass 
that.  Let  me  tell  you  how  we  feel  about  this  road  matter. 
You  see  we  did  our  courting  in  Pennsylvania,  married  and 
tried  Ohio,  and  then  came  on  here.  We  took  this  land 
when  it  was  mostly  woods.  I  could  point  you  to  the 
exact  spot  where  we  stopped;  we  visited  it  yesterday, 
looked  down  the  hill  and  selected  the  place  where  we 
would  set  this  house,  when  we  could  afford  to  build  it. 


386  LADDIE 

We  moved  into  the  cabin  that  was  on  the  land  first,  later 
built  a  larger  one,  and  finally  this  home  as  we  had  planned 
it.  Every  fruit  tree,  bush,  vine,  and  flower  we  planted. 
Here  our  children  have  been  born,  lived,  loved,  and  left 
us;  some  for  the  graveyard  down  yonder,  some  for  homes 
of  their  own.  Always  we  have  planned  and  striven  to 
transform  this  into  the  dearest,  the  most  beautiful  spot 
on  earth.  In  making  our  home  the  best  we  can,  in  im- 
proving our  township,  county,  and  state,  we  are  doing 
our  share  toward  upbuilding  this  nation." 

She  began  at  the  a  b  c's,  and  gave  it  to  him  straight: 
the  whole  thing,  just  as  we  saw  it;  and  he  listened,  as  if 
he  were  a  prisoner,  and  she  a  judge  telling  him  what  he 
must  do  to  gain  his  freedom.  She  put  in  the  birds  to  keep 
away  the  worms,  the  trees  to  break  the  wind,  the  creeks 
to  save  the  moisture.  She  whanged  him,  and  she  banged 
him,  up  one  side,  and  down  the  other.  She  didn't  stop 
to  be  mincy.  She  shot  things  at  him  like  a  man  talking 
to  another  man  who  had  plenty  of  sense  but  not  a  particle 
of  reason.  She  gave  him  the  reason.  She  told  him 
exactly  why,  and  how,  and  where,  and  also  just  what 
he  must  do  to  feel  right  toward  his  neighbours,  his  family, 
and  his  God.  No  preacher  ever  talked  half  so  well.  Yea 
verily,  she  was  as  interesting  as  the  Bishop  himself,  and 
far  pleasanter  to  look  at.  When  she  ran  short  of  breath, 
and  out  of  words,  she  reached  both  hands  toward  him 
again. 

"Oh  do  please  think  of  these  things!"  she  begged.  "Do 
try  to  believe  that  I  am  a  sensible  person,  and  know  what 
I  am  talking  about." 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  387 

"Madame,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  "there's  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  but  you  are  the  most  wonderful  woman  I  ever  have 
met.  Surely  I  believe  you!  Surely  I  know  your  plan  of 
life  is  the  true,  the  only  right  way.  It  is  one  degree  added 
to  my  humiliation  that  the  ban  I  am  under  keeps  me  from 
friendly  intercourse  with  so  great  a  lady." 

"  'Lady'  ? "  said  my  mother,  her  eyes  widening.  "  'Lady '  ? 
Now  it  is  you  who  are  amused." 

"I  don't  understand!"  he  said.  "Certainly  you  are  a 
lady,  a  very  great  lady." 

"Goodness,  gracious  me!"  cried  my  mother,  laughing 
until  her  dimples  would  have  held  water.  "That's  the 
first  time  in  all  my  life  I  was  ever  accused  of  such  a  thing." 

"Again,  I  do  not  comprehend,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  as  if 
vexed  about  all  he  would  endure. 

Mother  laughed  on,  and  as  she  did  so  she  drew  back  her 
hands  and  studied  them.  Then  she  looked  at  him  again, 
one  pink  dimple  flashing  here  and  there,  all  over  her  face. 

"Well,  to  begin  at  the  root  of  the  matter,"  she  said, 
"that  is  an  enormous  big  word  that  you  are  using  lightly. 
Any  one  in  petticoats  is  not  a  lady — by  no  means! 
A  lady  must  be  born  of  unsullied  blood  for  at  least  three 
generations,  on  each  side  of  her  house.  Think  for  a 
minute  about  where  you  are  going  to  fulfil  that  condition. 
Then  she  must  be  gentle  by  nature,  and  rearing.  She 
must  know  all  there  is  to  learn  from  books,  have  wide 
experience  to  cover  all  emergencies,  she  must  be  steeped 
in  social  graces,  and  diplomatic  by  nature.  She  must 
rise  unruffled  to  any  emergency,  never  wound,  never 
offend,   always  help   and   heal,   she  must  be  perfect  in 


388  LADDIE 

deportment,  virtue,  wifehood  and  motherhood.  She 
must  be  graceful,  pleasing  and  beautiful.  She  must  have 
much  leisure  to  perfect  herself  in  learning,  graces  and 
arts 

"Madam-,  you  draw  an  impossible  picture!"  cried 
Mr.  Pryor 

"I  dra  the  picture  of  the  only  woman  on  earth  truly 
entitled  t  ^  be  called  a  lady.  You  use  a  good  word  lightly. 
I  have  told  you  what  it  takes  to  make  a  lady — now  look 
at  me!" 

How  she  laughed !    Mr.  Pryor  looked,  but  he  didn't  laugh. 

"More  than  ever  you  convince  me  that  you  are  a 
lady,  indeed,"  he  said. 

Mother  wiped  her  eyes. 

"My  dear  man!"  she  cried,  "I'm  the  daughter  of  a 
Dutch  miller,  who  lived  on  a  Pennsylvania  mountain 
stream.  There  never  was  a  school  anywhere  near  us, 
and  father  and  mother  only  taught  us  to  work.  Paul 
Stanton  took  a  grist  there,  and  saw  me.  He  married 
me,  and  brought  me  here.  He  taught  me  to  read  and 
write.  I  learned  my  lessons  with  my  elder  children. 
He  has  always  kept  school  in  our  house,  every  night  of 
his  life.  Our  children  supposed  it  was  for  them;  I  knew 
it  was  quite  as  much  for  me.  While  I  sat  at  knitting  or 
sewing,  I  spelled  over  the  words  he  gave  out.  I  know 
nothing  of  my  ancestors,  save  that  they  came  from  the 
lowlands  of  Holland,  down  where  there  were  cities,  schools, 
and  business.  They  were  well  educated,  but  they  would 
not  take  the  trouble  to  teach  their  children.  As  I  have 
spoken  to  you,  my  husband  taught  me.     All  I  know  I 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  389 

learn  from  him,  from  what  he  reads  aloud,  and  places 
he  takes  me.  I  exist  in  a  twenty-mile  radius,  but  through 
him,  I  know  all  lands,  principalities  and  kingdoms, 
peoples  and  customs.  I  need  never  be  ashamed  to  go,  or 
afraid  to  speak,  anywhere."  , 

"Indeed  not!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor. 

"But  when  you  think  on  the  essentials  of  a  real  lady — 
and  then  picture  me  patching,  with  a  First  Reader 
propped  before  me;  facing  Indians,  Gypsies,  wild  animals 
— and  they  used  to  be  bad  enough — why,  I  mind  one 
time  in  Ohio  when  our  first  baby  was  only  able  to  stand 
beside  a  chair,  and  through  the  rough  puncheon  floor  a 
copperhead  stuck  up  its  gleam  of  bronzy  gold,  and  shot 
its  darting  tongue  within  a  foot  of  her  bare  leg.  By  all 
accounts,  a  lady  would  have  reached  for  her  smelling 
salts  and  gracefully  fainted  away;  in  fact,  a  lady  never 
would  have  been  in  such  a  place  at  all.  It  was  my  job  to 
throw  the  first  thing  I  could  lay  my  hands  on  so  straight 
and  true  that  I  would  break  that  snake's  neck,  and  send 
its  deadly  fangs  away  from  my  baby.  I  did  it  with 
Paul's  plane,  and  neatly  too!  Then  I  had  to  put  the 
baby  on  the  bed  and  tear  up  every  piece  of  the  floor  to 
see  that  the  snake  had  not  a  mate  in  hiding  there,  for 
copperheads  at  that  season  were  going  pairs.  Once 
I  was  driven  to  face  a  big  squaw,  and  threatened  the  life 
of  her  baby  with  a  red-hot  poker  while  she  menaced 
mine  with  a  hunting  knife.  There  is  not  one  cold,  rough, 
hard  experience  of  pioneer  life  that  I  have  not  endured. 
Shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  heart  to  heart,  I've  stood 
beside  my  man,  and  done  what  had  to  be  done,  to  build 


390  LADDIE 

this  home,  rear  our  children,  save  our  property.  Many's 
the  night  I  have  shivered  in  a  barn  doctoring  sick  cattle 
and  horses  we  could  ill  afford  to  lose.  Time  and  again 
I  have  hung  on  and  brought  things  out  alive,  after  the 
men  gave  up  and  quit.     A  lady?     How  funny!" 

"The  amusement  is  all  on  your  part,  Madame." 

"So  it  seems!"  said  mother.  "But  you  see,  I  know 
so  well  how  ridiculous  it  is.  When  I  think  of  the  life 
a  woman  must  lead  in  order  to  be  truly  a  lady,  when 
I  review  the  life  I  have  been  forced  to  live  to  do  my  share 
in  making  this  home,  and  rearing  these  children,  the 
contrast  is  too  great.  I  thank  God  for  any  part  I  have 
been  able  to  take.  Had  I  life  to  live  over,  I  see  now 
where  I  could  do  more;  but  neighbour,  believe  me,  my 
highest  aspiration  is  to  be  a  clean,  thrifty  housekeeper, 
a  bountiful  cook,  a  faithful  wife,  a  sympathetic  mother. 
That  is  life  work  for  any  woman,  and  to  be  a  good  woman 
is  the  greatest  thing  on  earth.  Never  mind  about  the 
ladies;  if  you  can  honestly  say  of  me,  she  is  a  good  woman, 
you  have  paid  me  the  highest  possible  tribute." 

"I  have  nothing  to  change,  in  the  face  of  your  argu- 
ment," said  Mr.  Pryor.  "Our  loved  Queen  on  her 
throne  is  no  finer  lady." 

That  time  mother  didn't  laugh.  She  looked  straight 
at  him  a  minute  and  then  she  said:  "Well,  for  an  Eng- 
lishman, as  I  know  them,  you  have  said  the  last  word. 
Higher  praise  there  is  none.  But  believe  me,  I  make 
no  such  claim.  To  be  a  good  wife  and  mother  is  the  end 
toward  which  I  aspire.  To  hold  the  respect  and  love 
of  my  husband  is  the  greatest  object  of  my  life." 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  391 

"Then  you  have  succeeded.  You  stand  a  monument 
to  wifehood;  your  children  prove  your  idea  of  mother- 
hood," said  Mr.  Pryor.  "How  in  this  world  have  you 
managed  it?  The  members  of  your  family  whom  I  have 
seen  are  fine,  interesting  men  and  women,  educated  above 
the  average.  It  is  not  idle  curiosity.  I  am  deeply  inter- 
ested in  knowing  how  such  an  end  came  to  be  accomplished 
here  on  this  farm.  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  just  how  you 
have  gone  about  schooling  your  children." 

"By  educating  ourselves  before  their  coming,  and 
with  them  afterward.  Self-control,  study,  work,  joy  of 
life,  satisfaction  with  what  we  have  had,  never-ending 
strife  to  go  higher,  and  to  do  better — Dr.  Fenner  laughs 
when  I  talk  of  these  things.  He  says  he  can  take  a  little 
naked  Hottentot  from  the  jungle,  and  educate  it  to  the 
same  degree  that  I  can  one  of  mine.  I  don't  know;  but  if 
these  things  do  not  help  before  birth,  at  least  they  do  not 
hinder;  and  afterward,  you  are  in  the  groove  in  which 
you  want  your  children  to  run.  With  all  our  twelve 
there  never  has  been  one  who  at  nine  months  of  age  did 
not  stop  crying  if  its  father  lifted  his  finger,  or  tapped 
his  foot  and  told  it  to.  From  the  start  we  have  rigorously 
guarded  our  speech  and  actions  before  them.  From  the 
first  tiny  baby  my  husband  has  taught  all  of  them  to  read, 
write  and  cipher  some,  before  they  went  to  school  at  all. 
He  is  always  watching,  observing,  studying:  the  earth, 
the  stars,  growing  things;  he  never  comes  to  a  meal  but 
he  has  seen  something  that  he  has  or  will  study  out  for 
all  of  us.  There  never  has  been  one  day  in  our  home  on 
which  he  did  not  read  a  new  interesting  article  from  book 


392  LADDIE 

or  paper;  work  out  a  big  problem,  or  discuss  some  phase 
of  politics,  religion,  or  war.  Sometimes  there  has  been 
a  little  of  all  of  it  in  one  day,  always  reading,  spelling,  and 
memory  exercises  at  night.  He  has  a  sister  who  twice  in 
her  life  has  repeated  the  Bible  as  a  test  before  a  com- 
mittee. He,  himself,  can  go  through  the  New  Testament 
and  all  of  the  Old  save  the  books  of  the  generations.  He 
always  says  he  considers  it  a  waste  of  gray  matter  to 
learn  them.  He  has  been  a  schoolmaster,  his  home  his 
schoolroom,  his  children,  wife  and  helpers  his  pupils;  the 
common  things  of  life  as  he  meets  them  every  day,  the 
books  from  which  we  learn. 

"I  was  ignorant  at  first  of  bookish  subjects,  but  in  his 
atmosphere,  if  one  were  no  student,  and  didn't  even  try 
to  keep  up,  or  forge  ahead,  they  would  absorb  much 
through  association.  Almost  always  he  has  been  on  the 
school  board  and  selected  the  teachers;  we  have  made  a 
point  of  keeping  them  here,  at  great  inconvenience  to 
ourselves,  in  order  to  know  as  much  of  them  as  possible, 
and  to  help  and  guide  them  in  their  work.  When  the 
children  could  learn  no  more  here,  for  most  of  them  we 
have  managed  the  high  school  of  Groveville,  especially 
after  our  daughter  moved  there,  and  for  each  of  them  we 
have  added  at  least  two  years  of  college,  music  school,  or 
whatever  the  peculiar  bent  of  the  child  seemed  to  demand. 

"Before  any  daughter  has  left  our  home  for  one  of  her 
own,  she  has  been  taught  all  I  know  of  cleanliness  about 
a  house,  cookery,  sewing,  tending  the  sick,  bathing  and 
dressing  the  new  born.  She  has  to  bake  bread,  pie,  cake, 
and  cook  any  meat  or  vegetable  we  have.     She  has  had 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  393 

her  bolt  of  muslin  to  make  as  she  chose  for  her  bedding, 
and  linen  for  her  underclothing.  The  quilts  she  pieced 
and  the  blankets  she  wove  have  been  hers.  All  of  them 
have  been  as  well  provided  for  as  we  could  afford.  They 
can  knit,  darn,  patch,  tuck,  hem,  and  embroider,  set  a 
hen  and  plant  a  garden.  I  go  on  a  vacation  and  leave 
each  of  them  to  keep  house  for  her  father  a  month,  before 
she  enters  a  home  of  her  own.  They  are  strong,  healthy 
girls;  I  hope  all  of  them  are  making  a  good  showing  at 
being  useful  women,  and  I  know  they  are  happy,  so  far 
at  least." 

"Wonderful!"  said  Mr.  Pryor. 

"Father  takes  the  boys  in  hand  and  they  must  graduate 
in  a  straight  furrow,  an  even  fence,  planting  and  tending 
crops,  trimming  and  grafting  trees,  caring  for  stock,  and 
handling  plane,  augur  and  chisel.  Each  one  must  select 
his  wood,  cure,  fashion,  and  fit  his  own  ax  with  a  handle, 
grind  and  swing  it  properly,  as  well  as  cradle,  scythe  and 
sickle.  They  must  be  able  to  select  good  seed  grain,  boil 
sap,  and  cure  meat.  They  must  know  animals,  their 
diseases  and  treatment,  and  when  they  have  mastered 
all  he  can  teach  them,  and  done  each  thing  properly, 
they  may  go  for  their  term  at  college,  and  make  their 
choice  of  a  profession.  As  yet  I'm  sorry  to  say  but  one 
of  them  has  come  back  to  the  land." 

"You  mean  Laddie?" 

"Yes." 

"He  has  decided  to  be  a  farmer?" 

"He  has  determined  to  make  the  soil  yield  his  living." 

"I  am  sorry — sorry  indeed  to  hear  it,"  said  Mr.  Pryor. 


394  LADDIE 

"He  has  brain  and  education  to  make  a  brilliant  figure 
at  law  or  statesmanship;  he  would  do  well  in  trade." 

"What  makes  you  think  he  would  not  do  well  on  land?" 

"Wasted!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor.     "He  would  be  wasted!" 

"Hold  a  bit!"  said  mother,  her  face  flushing  as  it  did 
when  she  was  very  provoked.  "My  husband  is,  and 
always  has  been,  on  land.  He  is  far  from  being  wasted. 
He  is  a  power  in  this  community.  He  has  sons  in  cities 
in  law  and  in  trade.  Not  one  of  them  has  the  friends, 
and  the  influence  on  his  time,  that  his  father  has.  Any 
day  he  says  the  word,  he  can  stand  in  legislative  halls, 
and  take  any  part  he  chooses  in  politics.  He  prefers  his 
home  and  family,  and  the  work  he  does  here,  but  let  me 
tell  you,  no  son  of  his  ever  had  his  influence  or  oppor- 
tunity, or  ever  will  have." 

"All  this  is  news  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Pryor. 

"You  didn't  expect  us  to  come  over,  force  our  way  in 
and  tell  you?" 

It  was  his  turn  to  blush  and  he  did. 

"Laddie  has  been  at  our  house  often,"  he  said.  "He 
might  have  mentioned " 

Mother  laughed.     She  was  the  gayest  that  morning. 

"He  'might,'  but  he  never  would.  Neither  would  I 
if  you  hadn't  seemed  to  think  that  the  men  who  do  the 
things  Mr.  Stanton  refuses  to  do  are  the  ones  worth  while." 

"He  could  accomplish  much  in  legislative  halls." 

"He  figures  in  the  large.  He  thinks  that  to  be  a  com- 
missioner, travel  his  county  and  make  all  of  it  the  best 
possible,  to  stand  in  primaries  and  choose  only  worthy 
men  for  all  offices,  is  doing  a  much  bigger  work  than  to 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  395 

take  one  place  for  himself,  and  strive  only  for  that.  Be- 
sides, he  really  loves  his  land,  his  house,  and  family.  He 
says  no  man  has  a  right  to  bring  twelve  children  into  the 
world  and  not  see  personally  to  rearing  and  educating 
them.  He  thinks  the  farm  and  the  children  too  much  for 
me,  and  he's  sure  he  is  doing  the  biggest  thing  for  the 
community  at  large,  to  go  on  as  he  does." 

"Perhaps  so,"  said  Mr.  Pryor  slowly.  "He  should 
know  best.     Perhaps  he  is." 

"I  make  no  doubt!"  said  mother,  lifting  her  head 
proudly.  "And  as  Laddie  feels  and  has  fitted  himself, 
I  look  to  see  him  go  head  and  shoulders  above  any  other 
son  I  have.  Trade  is  not  the  only  way  to  accumulate. 
Law  is  not  the  only  path  to  the  legislature.  Comfort, 
independence,  and  freedom,  such  as  we  know  here,  is  not 
found  in  any  city  I  ever  have  visited.  We  think  we  have 
the  best  of  life,  and  we  are  content  on  land.  We  have  not 
accumulated  much  money;  we  have  spent  thousands; 
we  have  had  a  big  family  for  which  to  provide,  and  on 
account  of  the  newness  of  the  country,  taxes  always  have 
been  heavy.  But  we  make  no  complaint.  We  are  satis- 
fied. We  could  have  branched  off  into  fifty  different 
things  after  we  had  a  fair  start  here.  We  didn't,  because 
we  preferred  life  as  we  worked  it  out  for  ourselves.  Paul 
says  when  he  leaves  the  city,  and  his  horses'  hoofs  strike 
the  road  between  our  fields,  he  always  lifts  his  head  higher, 
squares  his  shoulders,  and  feels  a  man  among  men.  To 
own  land,  and  to  love  it,  is  a  wonderful  thing,  Mr.  Pryor." 

She  made  me  think  of  something.  Ever  since  I  had 
added  to  my  quill  and  arrow  money,  the  great  big  lot  at 


396  LADDIE 

Easter,  father  had  shared  his  chest  till  with  me.  The 
chest  stood  in  our  room,  and  in  it  lay  his  wedding  suit, 
his  every  Sunday  clothes,  his  best  hat  with  a  red  silk 
handkerchief  in  the  crown,  a  bundle  of  precious  news- 
papers he  was  saving  on  account  of  rare  things  in  them  he 
wanted  for  reference,  and  in  the  till  was  the  wallet  of 
ready  money  he  kept  in  the  house  for  unexpected  expense, 
his  deeds,  insurance  papers,  all  his  particular  private 
papers,  the  bunches  of  lead  pencils,  slate  pencils,  and 
the  box  of  pens  from  which  he  supplied  us  for  school. 
Since  I  had  grown  so  rich,  he  had  gone  partners  with  me, 
and  I  might  lift  the  lid,  open  the  till  and  take  out  my  little 
purse  that  May  bought  from  the  huckster  for  my  last 
birthday.  I  wasn't  to  touch  a  thing,  save  my  own,  and 
I  never  did;  but  I  knew  precious  well  what  was  there. 
If  Mr.  Pryor  thought  my  father  didn't  amount  to  much 
because  he  lived  on  land;  if  it  made  him  think  more  of 
him,  to  know  that  he  could  be  in  the  legislature  if  he 
chose,  maybe  he'd  think  still  more 

I  lifted  the  papers,  picked  it  up  carefully,  and  slipping 
back  quietly,  I  laid  it  on  Mr.  Pryor's  knee.  He  picked 
it  up  and  held  it  a  minute,  until  he  finished  what  he  was 
saying  to  mother,  and  then  he  looked  at  it.  Then  he 
looked  long  and  hard.  Then  he  straightened  up  and 
looked  again. 

"God  bless  my  soul!"  he  cried. 

You  see  when  he  was  so  astonished  he  didn't  know  what 
he  was  saying,  he  called  on  God,  just  as  father  says  every 
one  does.  I  took  a  side  look  at  mother.  Her  face  was 
a  little  extra  flushed,  but  she  was  still  smiling;  so  I  knew 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  397 

she  wasn't  angry  with  me,  though  of  course  she  wouldn't 
have  shown  the  thing  herself.  She  and  father  never  did, 
except  as  each  of  us  grew  big  enough  to  be  taught  about 
the  Crusaders.  Father  said  he  didn't  care  the  snap  of 
his  finger  about  it,  except  as  it  stood  for  hardihood  and 
bravery.  But  Mr.  Pryor  cared!  He  cared  more  than  he 
could  say.  He  stared,  and  stared,  and  over  and  over 
he  wonderingly  repeated:     "God  bless  my  soul!" 

"Where  did  you  get  the  crest  of  the  Earl  of  Eastbrooke, 
the  master  of  Stanton  house?"  he  demanded.  "Stanton 
house!"  he  repeated.  "Why — why,  the  name!  It's 
scarcely  possible,  but " 

"But  there  it  is!"  laughed  mother.  "A  mere  bauble 
for  show  and  amounting  to  nothing  on  earth  save  as  it 
stands  a  mark  for  brave  men  who  have  striven  to  con- 
quer." 

"Surgere  tento!"  read  Mr.  Pryor,  from  the  little  shield. 
"  Four  shells !  Madame,  I  know  men  who  would  give  their 
lives  to  own  this,  and  to  have  been  born  with  the  right  to 
wear  it.     It  came  to  your  husband  in  straight  line?" 

"Yes,"  said  mother,  "but  generations  back.  He  never 
wore  it.  He  never  would.  He  only  saves  it  for  the  chil- 
dren." 

"  It  goes  to  your  eldest  son  ? " 

"By  rights,  I  suppose  it  should,"  said  mother.  "But 
father  mentioned  it  the  other  night.  He  said  none  of  his 
boys  had  gone  as  he  tried  to  influence  them,  unless  Laddie 
does  now  in  choosing  land  for  his  future,  and  if  he  does, 
his  father  is  inclined  to  leave  it  to  him,  and  I  agree.  At 
our  death  it  goes  to  Laddie  I  am  quite  sure." 


398  LADDIE 

"Well,  I  hope— I  hope,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  "that  the 
young  man  has  the  wit  to  understand  what  this  would 
mean  to  him  in  England." 

"His  wit  is  just  about  level  with  his  father's,"  said 
mother.  "He  never  has  been  in  England,  and  most 
probably  he  never  will  be.  I  don't  think  it  means  a  rap 
more  to  Laddie  than  it  does  to  my  husband.  Laddie  is  so 
busy  developing  the  manhood  born  in  him,  he  has  no  time 
to  chase  the  rainbow  of  reflected  glory,  and  no  belief  in 
its  stability  if  he  walked  in  its  light.  The  child  of  my 
family  to  whom  that  trinket  really  means  something  is 
Little  Sister,  here.  When  Leon  came  in  with  the  thief, 
I  thought  he  should  have  it;  but  after  all,  she  is  the 
staunchest  little  Crusader  I  have." 

Mr.  Pryor  looked  me  over  with  much  interest. 

"Yes,  yes!  No  doubt!"  he  said.  "But  the  male  line! 
This  priceless  treasure  should  descend  to  one  of  the  male 
line!  To  one  whose  name  will  remain  Stanton!  To 
Laddie  would  be  best,  no  doubt!     No  doubt  at  all!" 

"We  will  think  about  it,"  said  mother  serenely  as  Mr. 
Pryor  arose  to  go. 

He  apologized  for  staying  so  long,  and  mother  said  it 
hadn't  been  long,  and  asked  him  the  nicest  ever  to  come 
again.  She  walked  in  the  sunlight  with  him  and  pointed 
out  the  chestnuts.  She  asked  what  he  thought  of  a  line 
of  trees  to  shade  the  road,  and  they  discussed  whether 
the  pleasure  they  would  give  in  summer  would  pay  for 
the  dampness  they  would  hold  in  winter.  They  wandered 
around  the  yard  and  into  the  garden.  She  sent  me  to 
bring   a   knife,  trowel,   and   paper,   so  when  he  started 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  LORD  399 

home,  he  was  carrying  a  load  of  cuttings,  and  roots  to 
plant. 

When  father  came  from  town  that  evening,  at  the  first 
sight  of  him,  she  went  straight  into  his  arms,  her  face 
beaming;  she  had  been  like  a  sun  all  that  day.  Some  of 
it  must  have  been  joy  carried  over  from  yesterday. 

"Praise  God,  the  wedge  is  in!"  she  cried. 

Father  held  her  tight,  stroked  her  hair,  and  began 
smiling  without  having  the  least  idea  why,  but  he  very 
well  knew  that  whatever  pleased  her  like  that  was  going 
to  be  good  news  for  him  also. 

"What  has  happened,  mother?"  he  asked. 

"Mr.  Pryor  came  over  about  the  road  and  bridge  taXy 
and  oh  Paul!  I've  said  every  word  to  him  I've  been 
bursting  to  say  from  the  very  start.  Every  single  word9 
Paul!" 

"How  did  he  take  it?" 

"Time  will  tell.  Anyway,  he  heard  it,  all  of  it,  and  he 
went  back  carrying  a  load  of  things  to  plant.  Only 
think  of  that!  Once  he  begins  planting,  and  watching 
things  grow,  the  home  feeling  is  bound  to  come.  I  tell 
you,  Paul,  the  wedge  is  in!     Oh  I'm  so  happy!" 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Crest  of  Eastbrooke 

"Sow; — and   look  onward,   upward, 

Where  the  starry  light  appears, — 
Where,  in  spite  of  coward's  doubting, 

Or  your  own  heart's  trembling  fears, 
You  shall  reap  in  joy  the  harvest 

You  have  sown  to-day  in  tears." 

ANY  objections  to  my  beginning  to  break  ground 

/%  on  the  west  eighty  to-day?"  asked  Laddie  of 
1      m    father  at  breakfast  Monday  morning. 

"I  had  thought  we  would  commence  on  the  east  forty, 
when  planning  the  work." 

"So  had  I,"  said  Laddie.  "But  since  I  thought  that, 
a  very  particular  reason  has  developed  for  my  beginning 
to  plow  the  west  eighty  at  once,  and  there  is  a  charming 
little  ditty  I  feel  strongly  impelled  to  whistle  every  step 
of  the  way." 

Father  looked  at  him  sharply,  and  so,  I  think,  did  all 
of  us.  And  because  we  loved  him  deeply,  we  saw  that 
his  face  was  a  trifle  pale  for  him;  his  clear  eyes  troubled, 
in  spite  of  his  laughing  way.  He  knew  we  were  studying 
him  too,  but  he  wouldn't  have  said  anything  that  would 
make  us  look  and  question  if  he  had  minded  our  doing  it. 
That  was  exactly  like  Laddie.     He  meant  it  when  he 

400 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  401 

said  he  hated  a  secret.  He  said  there  was  no  place 
on  earth  for  a  man  to  look  for  sympathy  and  love  if  he 
couldn't  find  it  in  his  own  family;  and  he  never  had  been 
so  happy  since  I  had  been  big  enough  to  notice  his  moods 
as  he  had  been  since  all  of  us  knew  about  the  Princess, 
He  didn't  wait  for  father  to  ask  why  he'd  changed  his 
mind  about  the  place  to  begin. 

"You  see,"  he  said,  "a  very  charming  friend  of  mine 
expressed  herself  strongly  last  night  about  the  degrading 
influence  of  farming,  especially  that  branch  of  agriculture 
which  evolves  itself  in  a  furrow;  hence  it  is  my  none  too 
happy  work  to  plow  the  west  eighty  where  she  can't 
look  our  way  without  seeing  me;  and  I  have  got  to  whistle 
my  favourite  'toon'  where  she  must  stop  her  ears  if  she 
doesn't  hear;  and  then  it  will  be  my  painful  task,  I  fear, 
to  endeavour  to  convince  her  that  I  am  still  clean,  decent, 
and  not  degraded." 

"Oh  Laddie!"  cried  mother. 

"Abominable  foolishness!"  roared  father  like  he  does 
roar  once  in  about  two  years. 

"Isn't  it  now?"  asked  Laddie  sweetly.  "I  don't  know 
what  has  got  into  her  head.  She  has  seen  me  plowing 
fifty  times  since  their  land  has  joined  ours,  and  she  never 
objected  before." 

"I  can  tell  you  blessed  well!"  said  mother.  "She 
didn't  care  two  hoots  how  much  my  son  plowed,  but  it 
makes  a  difference  when  it  comes  to  her  lover." 

"Maw,  you  speak  amazing  reckless,"  said  Laddie,  "if  I 
thought  there  was  anything  in  that  feature  of  the  case,  I'd 
attempt  a  Highland  fling  on  the  ridgepole  of  our  barn." 


402  LADDIE 

"  Be  serious ! "  said  father  sternly.  "This  is  no  laughing 
matter." 

"That's  precisely  why  I  am  laughing,"  said  Laddie. 
"  Would  it  help  me  any  to  sit  down  and  weep  ?  I  trow  not  I 
I  have  thought  most  of  the  silent  watches — by  the  way 
they  are  far  from  silent  in  May — and  as  I  read  my  title 
clear,  it's  my  job  to  plow  the  west  eighty  immejit." 

Father  tried  to  look  stern,  but  he  just  had  to  laugh. 

"All  right  then,  plow  it!"  he  said. 

"What  did  she  say?"  asked  mother. 

"Phew!"  Laddie  threw  up  both  hands.  "She  must 
have  been  bottled  some  time  on  the  subject.  The  fer- 
ment was  a  spill  of  considerable  magnitude.  The  flood 
rather  overwhelmed  me,  because  it  was  so  unexpected. 
I  had  been  taking  for  granted  that  she  accepted  my  cir- 
cumstances and  surroundings  as  she  did  me.  But  no, 
kind  friends,  far  otherwise!  She  said  last  night,  in  the 
clearest  English  I  ever  heard  spoken  impromptu,  that  I 
was  a  man  suitable  for  her  friend,  but  I  would  have  to 
change  my  occupation  before  I  could  be  received  on  more 
than  a  friendly  footing." 

"'On  more  than  a  friendly  footing'?"  repeated  mother. 

"You  have  her  exact  words,"  said  Laddie.  "Kindly 
pass  the  ham." 

"What  did  you  say?" 

"Nothing!  I  am  going  to  plow  the  answer.  Please 
don't  object  to  my  beginning  this  morning." 

"You  try  yourself  all  winter  to  get  as  far  as  you  have, 
and  then  upset  the  bowl  like  this?"  cried  mother. 

"Softly,  mummy,  softly!"  said  Laddie.     "What  am 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  403 

I  to  do?  I've  definitely  decided  on  my  work.  I  see 
land  and  life,  as  you  and  father  taught  me,  in  range  and 
in  perspective  far  more  than  you've  got  from  it.  You 
had  a  first  hand  wrestle.  The  land  I  covet  has  been 
greatly  improved  already.  I  can  do  what  I  choose  with 
it,  making  no  more  strenuous  effort  than  plowing;  and  I 
am  proud  to  say  that  I  love  to  plow.  I  like  my  feet  in  the 
soil.  I  want  my  head  in  the  spring  air.  I  can  become 
almost  tipsy  on  the  odours  that  fill  my  nostrils.  Music 
evolved  by  the  Almighty  is  plenty  good  enough  for  me. 
I'm  proud  of  a  spanking  big  team,  under  the  control 
of  a  touch  or  a  word.  I  enjoy  farming,  and  I  am  going 
to  be  a  farmer.  Plowing  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
parts  of  the  job.  Sowing  the  seed  beats  it  a  little,  from 
an  artistic  standpoint,  either  is  preferable  to  haying, 
threshing,  or  corn  cutting:  all  are  parts  of  my  work,  so 
I'm  going  to  begin.  Mother,  I  hope  you  don't  mind 
if  I  take  your  grays.  I'll  be  very  careful;  but  the  picture 
I  present  to  my  girl  to-day  is  going  to  go  hard  with  her 
at  best,  so  I'd  like  to  make  it  level  best." 

He  arose,  went  around  and  knelt  beside  mother.  He 
took  her,  chair  and  all,  in  his  arms: 

"Best  of  mothers!  on  my  breast 
Lean  thy  head,  and  sink  to  rest." 

he  quoted.     Mother  laughed. 

"Mammy,"  he  asked  bending  toward  her,  "am  I 
clean?" 

"You  goose!"  she  said,  putting  her  arms  around  him 
and  holding  him  tight. 


404  LADDIE  L. 

"Gander  love,"  said  Laddie,  turning  up  his  face  for  a 
kiss.  "Honest  mother,  you  have  been  through  nigh  unto 
forty  years  of  it,  tell  me,  can  a  man  be  a  farmer  and 
keep  neat  enough  not  to  be  repulsive  to  a  refined  woman?" 

"Your  father  is  the  answer,"  said  mother.  "All  of 
you  know  how  perfectly  repulsive  he  is  and  always  has 
been  to  me." 

"'Repulsive,'"  said  father.     "That's  an  ugly  word!" 

"There  are  a  whole  lot  of  unpleasant  things  that  peep 
around  corners  occasionally,"  said  Laddie.  "But  who- 
ever of  you  dear  people  it  was  that  showed  Mr.  Pryor 
the  Crest  of  Eastbrooke,  brought  out  this  particular 
dragon  for  me  to  slay." 

"Tut,  tut!  Now  what  does  that  mean?"  said  father. 
"Have  we  had  a  little  exhibition  of  that  especial  brand 
of  pride  that  goes  before  a  fall?" 

"We  have!  and  I  take  the  tumble,"  said  Laddie. 
"Watch  me  start!  'Jack  fell  down  and  broke  his  crown/ 
Question — will  'Jill  come  tumbling  after?'" 

My  heart  stopped  and  I  was  shaking  in  ray  bare  feet, 
because  I  wore  no  shoes  to  shake  in.  Oh  my  soul!  No 
matter  how  Laddie  jested  I  knew  he  was  almost  killed; 
the  harder  he  made  fun,  the  worse  he  was  hurt.  I  opened 
my  mouth  to  say  I  did  it,  I  had  to,  but  Leon  began  to 
talk. 

"Well,  I  think  she's  smart!"  he  cried.  "If  she  was 
going  to  give  you  the  mitten,  why  didn't  she  do  it  long 


ago  ? 


"She  had  to  find  out  first  whether  there  were  a  possi- 
bility of  her  wanting  to  keep  it,"  said  Laddie. 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  405 

"You're  sure  you  are  all  signed,  sealed,  and  delivered 
on  this  plowing  business,  are  you?"  asked  Leon. 

"Dead  sure!"  said  Laddie. 

"All  right,  if  you  like  it!"  said  Leon.  "None  for  me 
after  college!  But  say,  you  can  be  a  farmer  and  not 
plow,  you  know.  You  go  trim  the  trees,  and  work  at 
cleaner,  more  gentlemanly  jobs.  I'll  plow  that  field. 
I'd  just  as  soon  as  not.  I  plowed  last  year  and  you  said 
I  did  well,  didn't  you,  father?" 

"Yes,  on  the  potato  patch,"  said  father.  "A  corn- 
field is  a  different  thing.     I  fear  you  are  too  light." 

"Oh  but  that  was  a  year  ago!"  cried  Leon. 

He  pushed  back  his  chair  and  went  to  father. 

"Just  feel  my  biceps  now!  Most  like  steel!"  he 
boasted.  "A  fellow  can  grow  a  lot  in  a  year,  and  all  the 
riding  I've  been  doing,  and  all  the  exercise  I've  had. 
Cert'  I  can  plow  that  meadow." 

"You're  all  right,  shaver,"  said  Laddie.  "I'll  not 
forget  your  offer;  but  in  this  case  it  wouldn't  help.  Either 
the  Princess  takes  her  medicine  or  I  take  mine.  I'm 
going  to  live  on  land:  I'm  going  to  plow  in  plain  sight 
of  the  Pryor  house  this  week,  if  I  have  to  hire  to  Jacob 
Hood  to  get  the  chance.  May  I  plow,  and  may  I  take 
the  grays,  father?" 

"Yes!"  said  father  roundly. 

"Then  here  goes!"  said  Laddie.     "You  needn't  fret 
mother.     I'll  not  overheat  them.     I  must  give  a  concert 
simultaneous   with   this   plowing  performance,    and    I'm 
particular  about  the  music,  so  I  can't  go  too  fast.     Also, 
I'll  wrap  the  harness." 


4o6  LADDIE 

" Goodness  knows  I'm  not  thinking  about  the  horses," 
said  mother. 

"No,  but  if  they  turned  up  next  Sunday,  wind-broken, 
and  with  nice  large  patches  of  hair  rubbed  from  their 
sides,  you  would  be!  If  you  were  me,  would  you  whistle, 
or  vocalize  to  start  on?" 

Mother  burst  right  out  crying  and  laid  her  face  all 
tear-wet  against  him.  Laddie  kissed  her,  and  wiped 
away  the  tears,  teased  her,  and  soon  as  he  could  he  bolted 
from  the  east  door;  but  I  was  closest,  so  I  saw  plainly 
that  his  eyes  were  wet  too.  My  soul  and  body!  And 
I  had  done  it  I     I  might  as  well  get  it  over. 

"I  showed  Mr.  Pryor  the  trinket,"  I  said. 

"How  did  you  come  to  do  that?"  asked  father  sternly. 

"When  he  was  talking  with  mother.  He  told  her 
Laddie  would  be  'wasted'  farming " 

"'Wasted?'" 

"That's  what  he  said.  Mother  told  him  you  had 
always  farmed  and  you  were  a  'power  in  this  community.' 
She  told  him  about  what  you  did,  because  you  wanted 
to,  and  what  you  could  do  if  you  chose,  about  holding 
office,  you  know,  and  that  seemed  to  make  him  think 
heaps  more  of  you,  so  I  thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing 
for  him  to  know  about  the  Crusaders  too,  and  I  ran  and 
got  the  crest.     I  thought  it  would  help " 

"And  so  it  will,"  said  mother.  "They  constantly  make 
the  best  showing  they  can,  we  might  as  well,  too.  The 
trouble  is  they  got  more  than  they  expected.  They 
thought  they  could  look  down  on  us,  and  patronize  us, 
if  they  came  near  at  all;  when  they  found  we  were  quite 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  407 

as  well  educated  as  they,  had  as  much  land,  could  hold 
prominent  offices  if  we  chose,  and  had  the  right  to  that 
bauble,  they  veered  to  the  other  extreme.  Now  they 
seem  to  demand  that  we  quit  work " 

"Move  to  the  city,  'sit  on  a  cushion  and  sew  a  fine 
seam,"'  suggested  father. 

"Exactly!"  said  mother.  "They'll  have  to  find  out 
we  are  running  our  own  business;  but  I'm  sorry  it  fell 
to  Laddie  to  show  them.  You  could  have  done  it  better. 
It  will  come  out  all  right.  The  Princess  is  not  going  to 
lose  a  man  like  Laddie  on  account  of  how  he  makes  his 
money." 

"Don't  be  too  confident,"  said  father.  "With  people 
of  their  stripe,  how  much  money  a  man  can  earn,  and  at 
what  occupation,  constitute  the  whole  of  life." 

She  wasn't  too  confident.  Yesterday  she  had  been  so 
happy  she  almost  flew.  To-day  she  kept  things  going, 
and  sang  a  lot,  but  nearly  every  time  you  looked  at  her 
you  could  see  her  lips  draw  tight,  a  frown  cross  her  fore- 
head, and  her  head  shake.  Pretty  soon  we  heard  a 
racket  on  the  road,  so  we  went  out.  There  was  Laddie 
with  the  matched  team  of  carriage  horses  and  a  plow. 
Now,  in  dreadfully  busy  times,  father  let  Ned  and  Jo 
work  a  little,  but  not  very  much.  They  were  not  plow 
horses;  they  were  roadsters.  They  liked  to  prance,  and 
bow  their  necks  and  dance  to  the  carriage.  It  shamed 
them  to  be  hitched  to  a  plow.  They  drooped  their  heads 
and  slunk  along  like  dogs  caught  sucking  eggs.  But 
they  were  a  sight  on  the  landscape.  They  were  lean  and 
slender  and  yet  round  too,  matched  dapple  gray  on  flank 


4o8  LADDIE 

and  side,  with  long  snow-white  manes  and  tails.  No 
wonder  mother  didn't  want  them  to  work.  Laddie  had 
reached  through  the  garden  fence  and  hooked  a  bunch  of 
red  tulips  and  yellow  daffodils.  The  red  was  at  Jo's  ear, 
and  the  yellow  at  Ned's,  and  they  did  look  fine.  So  did 
he!  Big,  strong,  clean,  a  red  flower  in  his  floppy  straw 
hat  band;  and  after  he  drove  through  the  gate,  he  began 
a  shrill,  fifelike  whistle  you  could  have  heard  a  half  mile: 

"  See  the  merry  farmer  boy,  tramp  the  meadows  through, 
Swing  his  hoe  in  careless  joy,  while  dashing  off  the  dew. 
Bobolink  in  maple  high,  trills  a  note  of  glee, 
Farmer  boy  in  gay  reply  now  whistles  cheerily." 

The  chorus  was  all  whistle,  and  it  was  written  for  folks 
who  could.  It  went  up  until  it  almost  split  the  echoes, 
and  Laddie  could  easily  sail  a  measure  above  the  notes. 
He  did  it  too.  As  for  me,  I  kept  from  sight.  For  a  week 
Laddie  whistled  and  plowed.  He  wore  that  tune  thread- 
bare, and  got  an  almost  continuous  pucker  on  his  lips. 
Leon  said  if  he  didn't  stop  whistling,  and  sing  more,  the 
girls  would  think  he  was  doing  a  prunes  and  prisms  stunt. 
So  after  that  he  sang  the  words,  and  whistled  the  chorus. 
But  he  made  no  excuse  to  go,  and  he  didn't  go,  to  Pryors'. 
When  Sunday  came,  he  went  to  Westchester  to  see  Eliza- 
beth, and  stayed  until  Monday  morning.  Not  once  that 
week  did  the  Princess  ride  past  our  house,  or  her  father 
either.  By  noon  Monday  Laddie  was  back  in  the  field, 
and  I  had  all  I  could  bear.  He  was  neither  whistling  nor 
singing  so  much  now,  because  he  was  away  at  the  south 
end,  where  he  couldn't  be  seen  or  heard  at  Pryors'.     He 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  409 

almost  scoured  the  skin  from  him,  and  he  wore  his  gloves 
mere  carefully  than  usual.  If  he  soiled  his  clothing  in 
the  least,  and  it  looked  as  if  he  would  make  more  than 
his  share  of  work,  he  washed  the  extra  pieces  at  night. 

Tuesday  morning  I  hurried  with  all  my  might,  and 
then  I  ran  to  the  field  where  he  was.  I  climbed  on  the 
fence,  sat  there  until  he  came  up,  and  then  I  gave  him 
some  cookies.  He  stopped  the  horses,  climbed  beside 
me  and  ate  them.  Then  he  put  his  arms  around  me  and 
hugged  me  tight. 

"Laddie,  do  you  know  I  did  it  ? "  I  wailed. 

"Did  you  now?"  said  Laddie.  "No,  I  didn't  know 
for  sure,  but  I  had  suspicions.  You  always  have  had 
such  a  fondness  for  that  particular  piece  of  tinware." 

"But  Laddie,  it  means  so  much!" 

"Doesn't  it?"  said  Laddie.  "A  few  days  ago  no  one 
could  have  convinced  me  that  it  meant  anything  at  all 
to  me,  or  ever  could.     Just  look  at  me  now!" 

"  Don't  joke,  Laddie !     Something  must  be  done." 

"Well,  ain't  I  doing  it?"  asked  Laddie.  "Look  at 
all  these  acres  and  acres  of  Jim-dandy  plowing!" 

"  Don't ! "  I  begged.     "  Why  don't  you  go  over  there  ? " 

"No  use,  Chicken,"  said  Laddie.  "You  see  her  exact 
stipulation  was  that  I  must  change  my  occupation  before  I 
came  again." 

"What  does  she  want  you  to  do?" 

"Law,  I  think.  Unfortunately,  I  showed  her  a  letter 
from  Jerry  asking  me  to  enter  his  office  this  fall." 

"Hadn't  you  better  doit,  Laddie?" 

"How  would  you  like  to  be  shut  in  little,  stuffy  rooms, 


4io  LADDIE 

and  set  to  droning  over  books  and  papers  every  hour  of  the 
day,  ail  your  life,  and  to  spend  the  best  of  your  brain  and 
bodily  strength  straightening  out  other  men's  quarrels?" 

"Oh  Laddie,  you  just  couldn't!"  I  cried. 

"Precisely!"  said  Laddie.  "I  just  couldn't,  and  I 
just  won  t! 

"What  can  you  do?" 

"I  might  compromise  on  stock,"  he  said.  "I  could 
follow  the  same  occupation  as  her  father,  and  with  better 
success.  Neither  he  nor  his  men  get  the  best  results 
from  horses.  They  don't  understand  them,  especially 
the  breeds  they  are  attempting  to  handle.  Most  Arab 
horsemen  are  tent  dwellers.  They  travel  from  one  oasis 
to  another  with  their  stock.  At  night  their  herds  are 
gathered  around  them  as  children.  As  children  they  love 
them,  pet  them,  feed  them.  Each  is  named  for  a  divin- 
ity, a  planet  or  a  famous  ruler,  and  the  understanding 
between  master  and  beast  is  perfect.  Honestly,  Little 
Sister,  I  think  you  have  got  to  believe  in  the  God  of  Israel, 
in  order  to  say  the  right  word  to  an  Arabian  horse;  and 
I  know  you  must  believe  in  the  God  of  love.  A  beast  of 
that  breed,  jerked,  kicked,  and  scolded  is  a  fine  horse 
ruined.  If  I  owned  half  the  stock  Mr.  Pryor  has  over 
there,  I  could  put  it  in  such  shape  for  market  that  I  could 
get  twice  from  it  what  his  men  will." 

"Are  Thomas  and  James  rough  with  the  horses?" 

Like  master,  like  man,' "  quoted  Laddie.  "They  are ! 
They  are  foolish  with  the  Kentucky  strain,  and  fools  with 
the  Arab;  and  yet,  that  combination  beats  the  world. 
But  I  must  get  on  with  the  P.  C.  job." 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  411 

He  slid  from  the  fence,  took  a  drink  from  his  water 
jug,  and  pulled  a  handful  of  grass  for  each  horse.  As  he 
stood  feeding  them,  I  almost  fell  from  the  top  rail. 

"Laddie!"  I  whispered.  "Look!  Mr.  Pryor  is  half- 
way across  the  field  on  Ranger." 

"So?"  said  Laddie.     "Now  I  wonder " 

"Shall  I  go?" 

"No  indeed ! "  said  Laddie.  "  Stay  right  where  you  are. 
It  can't  be  anything  of  much  importance." 

At  first  it  didn't  seem  to  be.  They  talked  about  the 
weather,  the  soil,  the  team.  Laddie  scooped  a  handful  of 
black  earth,  and  holding  it  out,  told  Mr.  Pryor  all  about 
how  good  it  was,  and  why,  and  he  seemed  interested. 
Then  they  talked  about  everything;  until  if  he  had  been 
Jacob  Hood,  he  would  have  gone  away.  But  just  at  the 
time  when  I  expected  him  to  start,  he  looked  at  Laddie 
straight  and  hard. 

"I  missed  you  Sabbath  evening,"  he  said. 

Then  I  looked  at  him.  He  had  changed,  some  way. 
He  seemed  more  human,  more  like  our  folks,  less  cold  and 
stern. 

"I  sincerely  hope  it  was  unanimous,"  said  Laddie. 

Mr.  Pryor  had  to  laugh. 

"It  was  a  majority,  at  any  rate." 

Laddie  stared  dazed.  You  see  that  was  kind  of  a  joke. 
An  easy  one,  because  I  caught  it;  but  we  were  not  accus- 
tomed to  expecting  a  jest  from  Mr.  Pryor.  Not  one  of  us 
dreamed  there  was  a  joke  between  his  hat  crown  and  his 
boot  soles.     Then  Laddie  laughed ;  but  he  sobered  quickly. 

"I'm  mighty  sorry  if  Mrs.  Pryor  missed  me,"  he  said. 


4i2  LADDIE 

"I  thought  of  her.  I  have  grown  to  be  her  devoted  slave, 
and  I  hoped  she  liked  me." 

"You  put  it  mildly,"  said  Mr.  Pryor.  "Since  you 
didn't  come  when  she  expected  you,  we've  had  the  worst 
time  with  her  that  we  have  had  since  we  reached  this 
da — ah — er — um — this  country." 

"Could  you  make  any  suggestion?"  asked  Laddie. 

"I  could!  I  would  suggest  that  you  act  like  the  sensi- 
ble fellow  I  know  you  to  be,  and  come  as  usual,  at  your 
accustomed  times." 

"But  I'm  forbidden,  man!"  cried  Laddie. 

Ugh!     Such  awful  things  as  Mr.  Pryor  said. 

"Forbidden!"  he  cried.  "Is  a  man's  roof  his  own,  or 
is  it  not?  While  I  live,  I  propose  to  be  the  head  of  my 
family.  I  invite  you!  I  ask  you!  Mrs.  Pryor  and  I 
want  you!     What  more  is  necessary?" 

"Two  things,"  said  Laddie,  just  as  serenely.  "That 
Miss  Pryor  wants  me,  and  that  I  want  to  come." 

"  D'ye  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  don't  want  to  come,  eh  ? 
After  the  fight  you  put  up  to  force  your  way  in ! " 

Laddie  studied  the  sky,  a  whimsy  smile  on  his  lips. 

"Now  wasn't  that  a  good  fight?"  he  inquired.  "I'm 
mighty  proud  of  it!  But  not  now,  or  ever,  do  I  wish  to 
enter  your  house  again,  if  Miss  Pryor  doesn't  want,  and 
welcome  me." 

Then  he  went  over,  took  Mr.  Pryor's  horse  by  the  head, 
and  began  working  with  its  bridle.  It  didn't  set  right 
some  way,  and  Mr.  Pryor  had  jerked,  spurred,  and  mauled, 
until  there  was  a  big  space  tramped  to  mortar.  Laddie 
slid  his  fingers  beneath  the  leather,  eased  it  a  little,  and 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  413 

ran  his  hands  over  the  fretful  creature's  head.  It  just 
stopped,  stood  still,  pushed  its  nose  under  his  arm,  and 
pressed  against  his  side.  Mr.  Pryor  arose  in  one  stirrup, 
swung  around  and  alighted.  He  looped  an  arm  through 
the  bridle  rein,  and  with  both  hands  gripped  his  whip- 
stock. 

"How  the  devil  do  you  do  it?"  he  asked,  as  if  he  were 
provoked. 

"First,  the  bridle  was  uncomfortable;  next,  you  surely 
know,  Mr.  Pryor,  that  a  man  can  transfer  his  mental 
state  to  his  mount." 

Laddie  pointed  to  the  churned  up  earth. 

"  That  represents  your  mental  state;  this" — he  slid  his 
hand  down  the  neck  of  the  horse — "portrays  mine." 

Mr.  Pryor's  face  reddened,  but  Laddie  was  laughing  so 
heartily  he  joined  in  sort  of  sickly-like. 

"Oh  I  doubt  if  you  are  so  damnably  calm!"  he  cried. 

"I'm  calm  enough,  so  far  as  that  goes,"  said  Laddie. 
"I'm  not  denying  that  I've  got  about  all  the  heartache 
I  can  conveniently  carry." 

"Do  you  mind  telling  me  how  far  this  affair  has  gone?' 

"Wouldn't  a  right-minded  man  give  the  woman  in 
the  case  the  first  chance  to  answer  that  question?  I 
greatly  prefer  that  you  ask  Miss  Pryor." 

If  ever  I  felt  sorry  for  any  one,  I  did  then  for  Mr. 
Pryor.  He  stood  there  gripping  the  whip  with  both  hands 
and  he  looked  exactly  as  if  the  May  wind  might  break  him 
into  a  thousand  tiny  pieces,  and  every  one  of  them  would 
be  glass. 

"Urn — er "  he  said  at  last.    "You're  right,  of  course, 


414  LADDIE 

but  unfortunately,  Pamela  and  her  mother  did  not  agree 
with  my  motives,  or  my  course  in  coming  to  this  country; 
and  while  there  is  no  outward  demonstration — er — um 
— other  than  Mrs.  Pryor's  seclusion;  yet,  er — um! — I 
am  forced  to  the  belief  that  I'm  not  in  their  confidence." 

"I  see!"  said  Laddie.  "And  of  course  you  love  your 
daughter  as  any  man  would  love  so  beautiful  a  child, 

and  when  she  is  all  he  has "     I  thought  the  break  was 

coming  right  there,  but  Mr.  Pryor  clenched  his  whip  and 
put  it  off;  still,  any  one  watching  with  half  an  eye  could 
see  that  it  was  only  put  off,  and  not  for  long  at  that, — 
"It  has  been  my  idea,  Mr.  Pryor,  that  the  proper  course 
for  me  was  to  see  if  I  could  earn  any  standing  with  your 
daughter.  If  I  could,  and  she  gave  me  permission,  then 
I  intended  coming  to  you  the  instant  I  knew  how  she  felt. 
But  in  such  a  case  as  this,  I  don't  think  I  shall  find  the 
slightest  hesitation  in  telling  you  anything  you  want  to 
know,  that  I  am  able." 

"You  don't  know  how  you  stand  with  her?" 

Laddie  took  off  his  hat  and  ran  his  fingers  through  his 
hair.  His  feet  were  planted  widely  apart,  and  his  face 
was  sober  enough  for  any  funeral  now.     At  last  he  spoke. 

"I've  been  trying  to  figure  that  out,"  he  said  slowly. 
"I  believe  the  situation  is  as  open  to  you  as  it  is  to  me. 
She  was  a  desperately  lonely,  homesick  girl,  when  she 
caught  my  eye  and  heart;  and  I  placed  myself  on  her 
horizon.  In  her  case  the  women  were  slow  in  offering 
friendship,  because,  on  account  of  Mrs.  Pryor's  seclusion, 
none  was  felt  to  be  wanted;  then  Miss  Pryor  was  different 
in  dress  and  manner.     I  found  a  way  to  let  her  see  that 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  415 

I  wanted  to  be  friends,  and  she  accepted  my  friendship, 
and  at  the  same  time  allowed  it  go  only  so  far.  On  a  few 
rare  occasions,  I've  met  her  alone,  and  we've  talked  out 
various  phases  of  life  together;  but  most  of  our  intercourse 
has  taken  place  in  your  home,  and  in  your  presence.  You 
probably  have  seen  her  meet  and  entertain  her  friends 
frequently.  I  should  think  you  would  be  more  nearly 
able  to  gauge  my  standing  with  her  than  I  am." 

"You  haven't  told  her  that  you  love  her?" 

"Haven't  I  though?"  cried  Laddie.  "Man  alive! 
What  do  you  think  I'm  made  of?  Putty?  Told  her? 
I've  told  her  a  thousand  times.  I've  said  it,  and  sung  it 
and  whistled  it,  and  looked  it,  and  lived  it.  I've  written 
it,  and  ridden  it,  and  this  week  I've  plowed  it!  Your 
daughter  knows  as  she  knows  nothing  else,  in  all  this 
world,  that  she  has  only  to  give  me  one  glance,  one  word, 
one  gesture  of  invitation,  to  find  me  before  her  six  feet  of 
the  worst  demoralized  beefsteak  a  woman  ever  undertook 
to  handle.  Told  her?  Ye  Gods!  I  should  say  I've  told 
her!" 

If  any  of  Pryors  had  been  outdoors  they  certainly 
could  have  heard  Mr.  Pryor.  How  he  laughed!  He 
shook  until  he  tottered.  Laddie  took  his  arm  and  led  him 
to  the  fence.  He  lifted  a  broad  top  rail,  pushed  it  be- 
tween two  others  across  a  corner  and  made  a  nice  com- 
fortable seat  for  him.  After  a  while  Mr.  Pryor  wiped  his 
eyes.  Laddie  stood  watching  him  with  a  slow  grin  on 
his  face. 

"And  she  hasn't  given  the  signal  you  are  waiting  for?" 
he  asked  at  last. 


416  LADDIE 

Laddie  slowly  shook  his  head. 

"Nary  the  ghost  of  a  signal!"  he  said.  "Now  we 
come  to  Sunday  before  last.  I  only  intimated,  vaguely, 
that  a  hint  of  where  I  stood  would  be  a  comfort — and 
played  Jonah.  The  whale  swallowed  me  at  a  gulp,  and 
for  all  my  inches,  never  batted  an  eye.  You  see,  a  few 
days  before  I  showed  her  a  letter  from  my  brother  Jerry, 
because  I  thought  it  might  interest  her.  There  was 
something  in  it  to  which  I  had  paid  little  or  no  attention, 
about  my  going  to  the  city  and  beginning  work  in  his  law 
office;  to  cap  that,  evidently  you  had  mentioned  before 
her  our  prize  piece  of  family  tinware.  There  was  a 
culmination  like  a  thunder  clap  in  a  January  sky.  She 
said  everything  that  was  on  her  mind  about  a  man  of  my 
size  and  ability  doing  the  work  I  am,  and  then  she  said 
I  must  change  my  occupation  before  I  came  again." 

"And  for  answer  you've  split  the  echoes  with  some 
shrill,  abominable  air,  and  plowed,  before  her  very  eyes, 
for  a  week!" 

Then  Laddie  laughed. 

"Do  you  know,"  he  said;  "that's  a  good  one  on  me! 
It  never  occurred  to  me  that  she  would  not  be  familiar 
with  that  air,  and  understand  its  application.  Do  you 
mean  to  crush  me  further  by  telling  me  that  all  my  per- 
fectly lovely  vocalizing  and  whistling  was  lost  ? " 

"It  was  a  dem  irritating,  challenging  sort  of  thing," 
said  Mr.  Pryor.  "I  listened  to  it  by  the  hour,  myself, 
trying  to  make  out  exactly  what  it  did  mean.  It  seemed 
to  combine  defiance  with  pleading,  and  through  and  over 
all  ran  a  note  of  glee  that  was  really  quite  charming." 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  417 

"You  have  quoted  a  part  of  it,  literally,"  said  Laddie. 
"'A  note  of  glee' — the  cry  of  a  glad  heart,  at  peace  with 
all  the  world,  busy  with  congenial  work." 

"I  shouldn't  have  thought  you'd  have  been  so  partic- 
ularly joyful." 

"Oh,  the  joy  was  in  the  music,"  said  Laddie.  "That 
was  a  whistle  to  keep  up  my  courage.  The  joy  was  in  the 
song,  not  in  me!  Last  week  was  black  enough  for  me 
to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  pessimist." 

"I  wish  you  might  have  seen  the  figure  you  cut!  That 
fine  team,  flower  bedecked,  and  the  continuous  concert!" 

"But  I  did!"  cried  Laddie.  "We  have  mirrors.  That 
song  can't  be  beaten.  I  know  this  team  is  all  right,  and 
I'm  not  dwarfed  or  disfigured.  That  was  the  pageant  of 
summer  passing  in  review.  It  represented  the  tilling  of 
the  soil;  the  sowing  of  seed,  garnering  to  come  later.  You 
buy  corn  and  wheat,  don't  you?  They  are  vastly  neces- 
sary. Much  more  so  than  the  settling  of  quarrels  that 
never  should  have  taken  place.  Do  you  think  your 
daughter  found  the  spectacle  at  all  moving?" 

"Damn  you,  sir,  what  I  should  do,  is  to  lay  this  whip 
across  your  shoulders!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor. 

But  if  you  will  believe  it,  he  was  laughing  again. 

"I  prefer  that  you  don't,"  said  Laddie,  "or  on  Ranger 
either.     See  how  he  likes  being  gentled." 

Then  he  straightened  and  drew  a  deep  breath. 

"Mr.  Pryor,"  he  said,  "as  man  to  man,  I  have  got  this 
to  say  to  you — and  you  may  use  your  own  discretion 
about  repeating  it  to  your  daughter:  I  can  offer  her  six 
feet  of  as  sound  manhood  as  you  can  find  on  God's  foot- 


4i  8  LADDIE 

stool.  I  never  in  my  whole  life  have  had  enough  impure 
blood  in  my  body  to  make  even  one  tiny  eruption  on  my 
skin.  I  never  have  been  ill  a  day  in  my  life.  I  never 
have  touched  a  woman  save  as  I  lifted  and  cared  for  my 
mother,  and  hers,  or  my  sisters.  As  to  my  family  and 
education  she  can  judge  for  herself.  I  offer  her  the  first 
and  only  love  of  my  heart.  She  objects  to  farming,  be- 
cause she  says  it  is  dirty,  offensive  work.  There  are  parts 
of  it  that  are  dirty.  Thank  God,  it  only  soils  the  body, 
and  that  can  be  washed.  To  delve  and  to  dive  into,  and 
to  study  and  to  brood  over  the  bigger  half  of  the  law 
business  of  any  city  is  to  steep  your  brain  in,  and  smirch 
your  soul  with,  such  dirt  as  I  would  die  before  I'd  make 
an  occupation  of  touching.  Will  you  kindly  tell  her  that 
word  for  word,  and  that  I  asked  you  to?" 

Mr.  Pryor  was  standing  before  I  saw  him  rise.  He 
said  those  awful  words  again,  but  between  them  he  cried: 
"  You're  right !     It's  the  truth !     It's  the  eternal  truth ! " 

"It  is  the  truth,"  said  Laddie.  "I've  only  to  visit 
the  offices,  and  examine  the  business  of  those  of  my  family 
living  by  law,  to  know  that  it's  the  truth.  Of  course  there's 
another  side!  There  are  times  when  there  are  great  op- 
portunities to  do  good;  I  recognize  that.  To  some  these 
may  seem  to  overbalance  that  to  which  I  object.  If  they 
do,  all  right.  I  am  merely  deciding  for  myself.  Once  and 
for  all,  for  me  it  is  land.  It  is  born  in  me  to  love  it,  to 
handle  it  easily,  to  get  the  best  results  from  stock.  I  am 
going  to  take  the  Merriweather  place  adjoining  ours  on  the 
west,  and  yours  on  the  south.  I  intend  to  lease  it  for 
ten  years,  with  purchase  privilege  at  the  end,  so  that  if  I 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  419 

make  of  it  what  I  plan,  my  work  will  not  be  lost  to  me.  I 
had  thought  to  fix  up  the  place  and  begin  farming.  If 
Miss  Pryor  has  any  use  whatever  for  me,  and  prefers 
stock,  that  is  all  right  with  me.  I'll  go  into  the  same 
business  she  finds  suitable  for  you.  I  can  start  in  a  small 
Way  and  develop.  I  can  afford  a  maid  for  her  from  the 
beginning,  but  I  couldn't  clothe  her  as  she  has  been  ac- 
customed to  being  dressed,  for  some  time.  I  would  d© 
my  best,  however.  I  know  what  store  my  mother  sets 
by  being  well  gowned.  And  as  a  husband,  I  can  offer 
your  daughter  as  loving  consideration  as  woman  ever 
received  at  the  hands  of  man.  Provided  by  some  miracle 
I  could  win  her  consent,  would  you  even  consider  me,  and 
such  an  arrangement?" 

"Frankly  sir,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  "I  have  reached  the 

place  where  I  would  be "  whenever  you  come  to  a 

long  black  line  like  that,  it  means  that  he  just  roared  a 
lot  of  words  father  never  said,  and  never  will — "glad 
to!  To  tell  the  truth,  the  thing  you  choose  to  jestingly 
refer  to  as  'tinware' — I  hope  later  to  convince  of  the 
indelicacy  of  such  allusion — would  place  you  in  England 
on  a  social  level  above  any  we  ever  occupied,  or  could  hope 
to.  Your  education  equals  ours.  You  are  a  physical 
specimen  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  I  believe  what  you  say 
of  yourself.  There's  something  so  clean  and  manly  about 
you,  it  amounts  to  confirmation.  A  woman  should  set 
her  own  valuation  on  that;  and  the  height  of  it  should 
correspond  with  her  knowledge  of  the  world." 

"Thank  you!"  said  Laddie.  "You  are  more  than 
kind!  more  than  generous!" 


420  LADDIE 

"As  to  the  arrangements  you  could  make  for  Pamela," 
said  Mr.  Pryor,  "she's  all  we  have.  Everything  goes 
to  her,  ultimately.  She  has  her  stipulated  allowance 
now;  whether  in  my  house  or  yours,  it  would  go  with  her. 
Surely  you  wouldn't  be  so  callous  as  to  object  to  our  giving 
her  anything  that  would  please  us!" 

"Why  should  I?"  asked  Laddie.  "That's  only  nat- 
ural on  your  part.  Your  child  is  your  child;  no  matter 
where  or  what  it  is,  you  expect  to  exercise  a  certain  amount 
of  loving  care  over  it.  My  father  and  mother  constantly 
send  things  to  their  children  absent  from  home,  and  they 
take  much  pleasure  in  doing  it.  That  is  between  you 
and  your  daughter,  of  course.  I  shouldn't  think  of  in- 
terfering. But  in  the  meantime,  unless  Miss  Pryor  has 
been  converted  to  the  beauties  of  plowing  through  my 
continuous  performance  of  over  a  week,  I  stand  now 
exactly  where  I  did  before,  so  far  as  she  is  concerned. 
If  you  and  Mrs.  Pryor  have  no  objection  to  me,  if  you 
feel  that  you  could  think  of  me,  or  find  for  me  any  least 
part  of  a  son's  place  in  your  hearts,  I  believe  I  should 
know  how  to  appreciate  it,  and  how  to  go  to  work  to  make 
myself  worthy  of  it." 

Mr.  Pryor  sat  down  so  suddenly,  the  rail  almost  broke. 
I  thought  the  truth  was,  that  he  had  heart  trouble,  him- 
self. He  stopped  up,  choked  on  things,  flopped  around, 
and  turned  so  white.  I  suppose  he  thought  it  was  wo- 
manish, and  a  sign  of  weakness,  and  so  he  didn't  tell,  but 
I  bet  anything  that  he  had  it — bad! 

"I'll  try  to  make  the  little  fool  see!"  he  said. 

"Gently,   gently!     You  won't   help   me   any   in   that 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  421 

mood,"  said  Laddie.  "The  chances  are  that  Miss  Pryor 
repeated  what  she  heard  from  you  long  ago,  and  what  she 
knows  you  think  and  feel,  unless  you've  changed  recently." 

"That's  the  amount  of  it!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor.  "All  my 
life  I've  had  a  lot  of  beastly  notions  in  my  head  about 
rank,  and  class,  and  here  they  don't  amount  to  a  damn! 
There's  no  place  for  them.  Things  are  different.  Your 
mother,  a  grand,  good  woman,  opened  my  eyes  to  many 
things  recently,  and  I  get  her  viewpoint — clearly,  and  I 
agree  with  her,  and  with  you,  sir! — I  agree  with  you!" 

"I  am  more  than  glad,"  said  Laddie.  "You  certainly 
make  a  friend  at  court.     Thank  you  very  much!" 

"And  you  will  come ?" 

"The  instant  Miss  Pryor  gives  me  the  slightest  sign 
that  I  am  wanted,  and  will  be  welcomed  by  her,  I'll  come 
like  a  Dakota  blizzard!  Flos  can  hump  herself  on  time 
for  once." 

"But  you  won't  come  until  she  does?" 

"Man  alive!  I  can't!"  cried  Laddie.  "Your  daughter 
said  positively  exactly  what  she  meant.  It  was  unex- 
pected and  it  hit  me  so  hard  I  didn't  try  to  argue.  I 
simply  took  her  at  her  word,  her  very  explicit  word." 

"Fool!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor.  "The  last  thing  on  earth 
any  woman  ever  wants  or  expects  is  for  a  man  to  take 
her  at  her  word." 

"What?"  cried  Laddie. 

"She  had  what  she  said  in  her  mind  of  course,  but  what 
she  wanted  was  to  be  argued  out  of  it!  She  wanted  to 
be  convinced!" 

"I  think  not!     She  was  entirely  too  convincing  her- 


422  LADDIE 

self,"  said  Laddie.  "It's  my  guess  that  she  has  thought 
matters  over,  and  that  her  mind  is  made  up;  but  I  would 
take  it  as  a  mighty  big  favour  if  you  would  put  that  little 
piece  of  special  pleading  squarely  up  to  her.     Will  you?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  "I  will.     I'll  keep  cool  and  do 

my  best,  but  I  am  so  unfortunate  in  my  temper.     I  could 

manage  slaves   better  than  women.     This  time  I'll  be 

calm,  and  reason  things  out  with  her,  or  I'll  blow  out  my 

rains. 

"Don't  you  dare!"  laughed  Laddie.  "You  and  I  are 
going  to  get  much  pleasure,  comfort  and  profit  from  this 
world,  now  that  we  have  come  to  an  understanding." 

Mr.  Pryor  arose  and  held  out  his  hand.  Laddie  grasped 
it  tight,  and  they  stood  there  looking  straight  at  each 
other,  while  a  lark  on  the  fence  post  close  by  cried,  "Spring 
o'  ye-ar!"  at  them,  over  and  over,  but  they  never  paid  the 
least  attention. 

"You  see,"  said  Mr.  Pryor,  "I've  been  thinking  things 
over  deeply,  deeply!  ever  since  talking  with  your  mother. 
I've  cut  myself  off  from  going  back  to  England,  by  sacri- 
ficing much  of  my  property  in  hasty  departure,  if  by  any 
possibility  I  should  ever  want  to  return,  and  there  is  none, 
not  the  slightest!  There's  no  danger  of  any  one  cross- 
ing the  sea,  and  penetrating  to  this  particular  spot  so  far 
inland;  we  won't  be  molested!  And  lately — lately,  de- 
spite the  rawness,  and  the  newness,  there  is  something 
about  the  land  that  takes  hold,  after  all.  I  should  dis- 
like leaving  now!  I  found  in  watching  some  roots  your 
mother  gave  me,  that  I  wanted  them  to  grow,  that  I 
very  much  hoped  they  would  develop,  and  beautify  our 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  423 

place  with  flowers,  as  yours  is.  I  find  myself  watching 
them,  watching  them  daily,  and  oftener,  and  there  seems 
to  be  a  sort  of  home  feeling  creeping  around  my  heart.  I 
wish  Pamela  would  listen  to  reason!  I  wish  she  would 
marry  you  soon!  I  wish  there  would  be  little  children. 
Nothing  else  on  earth  would  come  so  close  to  comforting 
my  wife,  and  me  also.  Nothing!  Go  ahead,  lad,  plow 
away!     I'll  put  your  special  pleading  up  to  the  girl." 

He  clasped  Laddie's  hand,  mounted  and  rode  back  to 
the  gate  he  had  entered  when  he  came.  Laddie  sat  on  the 
rail,  so  I  climbed  down  beside  him.  He  put  his  arm 
around  me. 

"Do  I  feel  any  better?"  he  asked  dubiously. 

"Of  course  you  do!"  I  said  stoutly.  "You  feel  whole 
heaps,  and  stacks,  and  piles  better.  You  haven't  got 
him  to  fight  any  more,  or  Mrs.  Pryor.  It's  now  only  to 
convince  the  Princess  about  how  it's  all  right  to  plow." 

"Small  matter,  that!"  said  Laddie.  "And  easy!  Just 
as  simple  and  easy!" 

"Have  you  asked  the  Fairies  to  help  you?" 

"Aye,  aye,  sir,"  said  Laddie.  "Also  the  winds,  the 
flowers,  the  birds  and  the  bees!  I  have  asked  everything 
on  earth  to  help  me  except  you,  Little  Sister.  I  wonder 
if  I  have  been  making  a  mistake  there?" 

"Are  you  mad  at  me,  Laddie?" 

"  'Cause  for  why  ? " 

"About  the  old  crest  thing!" 

"Forget  it!"  laughed  Laddie.  "I  have.  And  anyway, 
in  the  long  run,  I  must  be  honest  enough  to  admit  that 
it  may  have  helped.     It  seems  to  have  had  its  influence 


424  LADDIE 

with  Mr.  Pryor,  no  doubt  it  worked  the  same  on  Mrs. 
Pryor,  and  it  may  be  that  it  was  because  she  had  so  much 
more  to  bank  on  than  she  ever  expected,  that  the  Princess 
felt  emboldened  to  make  her  demand.  It  may  be,  you 
can't  tell!  Anyway,  it's  very  evident  that  it  did  no  real 
harm.  And  forget  my  jesting,  Chicken.  A  man  can't 
always  cry  because  there  are  tears  in  his  heart.  I  think 
quite  as  much  of  that  crest  as  you  do.  In  the  sum  of 
human  events,  it  is  a  big  thing.  No  one  admires  a  Cru- 
sader more  than  I.  No  one  likes  a  good  fight  better. 
No  Crusader  ever  put  up  a  stirrer  battle  than  I  have  in  the 
past  week  while  working  in  these  fields.  Every  inch  of 
them  is  battlefield,  every  furrow  a  separate  conflict.  Gaze 
upon  the  scene  of  my  Waterloo!  When  June  covers  it 
with  green,  it  will  wave  over  the  resting  place  of  my  slain 
heart!" 

"Oh  Laddie!"  I  sobbed.  "There  you  go  again!  How 
can  you?" 

"Whoo-pee!"  cried  Laddie.  "That's  the  question! 
How  can  I?  Got  to,  Little  Sister!  There's  no  other 
way." 

"No,"  I  was  forced  to  admit,  "there  isn't.  What  are 
we  going  to  do  now  ? " 

"Life-saver,  we'll  now  go  to  dinner,"  said  Laddie. 
"Nothing  except  the  partnership  implied  in  'we'  sustains 
me  now.  You  11  find  a  way  to  help  me  out,  won't  you. 
Little  Sister?" 

"Of  course  I  will!"  I  promised,  without  ever  stopping 
a  minute  to  think  what  kind  of  a  job  that  was  going  to  be. 

Did  you  ever  wish  with  all  your  might  that  something 


THE  CREST  OF  EASTBROOKE  425 

would  happen,  and  wait  for  it,  expect  it,  and  long  for 
it,  and  nothing  did,  until  it  grew  so  bad,  it  seemed  as 
if  you  had  to  go  on  another  minute  you  couldn't  bear  it? 
Now  I  thought  when  Mr.  Pryor  talked  to  her,  maybe  she'd 
send  for  Laddie  that  very  same  night;  but  send  nothing! 
She  didn't  even  ride  on  our  road  any  more.  Of  course 
her  father  had  made  a  botch  of  it!  Bet  I  could  have 
told  her  Laddie's  message  straighter  than  he  did.  I 
could  think  it  over,  and  see  exactly  how  he'd  do.  He'd 
talk  nicely  about  one  minute,  and  the  first  word  she  said, 
that  he  didn't  like,  he'd  be  ranting,  and  using  unsuitable 
words.  Just  as  like  as  not  he  told  her  that  he'd  lay  his 
whip  across  her  shoulders,  like  he  had  Laddie.  Any  one 
could  see  that  as  long  as  she  was  his  daughter,  she  might 
be  slightly  handy  with  whips  herself;  at  least  she  wouldn't 
be  likely  to  stand  still  and  tell  him  to  go  ahead  and  beat 
her. 

Sunday  Laddie  went  to  Lucy's.  He  said  he  was  hav- 
ing a  family  reunion  on  the  installment  plan.  Of  course 
we  laughed,  but  none  of  us  missed  the  long  look  he  sent 
toward  Pryors'  as  he  mounted  to  start  in  the  opposite 
direction. 

Everything  went  on.  I  didn't  see  how  it  could,  but 
it  did.  It  even  got  worse,  for  another  letter  came  from 
Shelley  that  made  matters  concerning  her  no  brighter, 
and  while  none  of  us  talked  about  Laddie,  all  of  us  knew 
mighty  well  how  we  felt;  and  what  was  much  worse,  how 
he  felt.  Father  and  mother  had  quit  worrying  about 
God;  especially  father.  He  seemed  to  think  that  God 
and  Laddie  could  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  the  Princess, 


426  LADDIE 

and  I  don't  know  exactly  what  mother  thought.  No 
doubt  she  saw  she  couldn't  help  herself,  and  so  she  decided 
it  was  useless  to  struggle. 

The  plowing  on  the  west  side  was  almost  finished,  apd 
some  of  the  seed  was  in.  Laddie  went  straight  ahend 
flower-trimmed  and  whistling  until  his  face  must  have 
ached  as  badly  as  his  heart.  In  spite  of  how  hard  he 
tried  to  laugh,  and  keep  going,  all  of  us  could  see  that  he 
fairly  had  to  stick  up  his  head  and  stretch  his  neck  like 
the  blue  goose,  to  make  the  bites  go  down.  And  you 
couldn't  help  seeing  the  roundness  and  the  colour  go  from 
his  face,  a  little  more  every  day.  My!  but  being  in  love, 
when  you  couldn't  have  the  one  you  loved,  was  the  worst 
of  all.  I  wore  myself  almost  as  thin  as  Laddie,  hunting 
a  Fairy  to  ask  if  she'd  help  me  to  make  the  Princess  let 
Laddie  go  on  and  plow,  when  he  was  so  crazy  about  it.  I 
prayed  beside  my  bed  every  night,  until  the  Lord  must 
have  grown  so  tired  He  quit  listening  to  me,  for  I  talked 
right  up  as  impressively  as  I  knew  how,  and  it  didn't  do 
the  least  bit  of  good.  I  hadn't  tried  the  one  big  prayer 
toward  the  east  yet;  but  I  was  just  about  to  the  place 
where  I  intended  to  do  it  soon. 


CHAPTER  XV 
Laddie,  the  Princess,  and  the  Pie 

"O  whistle,  and  I'll  come  to  you,  my  lad." 

CANDACE  was  baking  the  very  first  batch  of  rhu- 
barb pies  for  the  season  and  the  odour  was  so 
tempting  I  couldn't  keep  away  from  the  kitchen 
door.  Now  Candace  was  a  splendid  cook  about  chicken 
gizzards — the  liver  was  always  mother's — doughnuts  and 
tarts,  but  I  never  really  did  believe  she  would  cut  into  a 
fresh  rhubarb  pie,  even  for  me.  As  I  reached  for  the 
generous  big  piece  I  thought  of  Laddie — poor  Laddie, 
plowing  away  at  his  Crusader  fight,  and  not  a  hint  of 
victory.  No  one  in  the  family  liked  rhubarb  pie  better 
than  he  did.     I  knew  there  was  no  use  to  ask  for  a  plate. 

"Wait — oh  wait!"  I  cried. 

I  ran  to  the  woodshed,  pulled  a  shining  new  shingle 
from  a  bale  stacked  there,  and  held  it  for  Candace.  Then 
I  slipped  around  the  house  softly.  I  didn't  want  to  run 
any  one's  errands  that  morning.  I  laid  the  pie  on  the 
horseblock  and  climbed  the  catalpa  carefully,  so  as  not 
to  frighten  my  robins.  They  were  part  father's  too,  be- 
cause robins  were  his  favourite  birds;  he  said  their  song 
through  and  after  rain  was  the  sweetest  music  on  earth, 
and  mostly  he  was  right;  so  they  were  not  all  my  robins, 

427 


428  LADDIE 

but  they  were  most  mine  after  him;  and  I  owned  the  tree. 
I  hunted  the  biggest  leaf  I  could  see,  and  wiped  it  clean 
on  my  apron,  although  it  was  early  for  much  dust.  It 
covered  the  pie  nicely,  because  it  was  the  proper  shape, 
and  I  held  the  stem  with  one  hand  to  keep  it  in  place. 

If  I  had  made  that  morning  myself  I  couldn't  have 
done  better.  It  was  sunny,  spring  air,  but  it  was  that 
cool,  spicy  kind  that  keeps  you  stopping  every  few  min- 
utes to  see  just  how  full  you  can  suck  your  lungs  without 
bursting.  It  seemed  to  wash  right  through  and  through 
and  make  you  all  over.  The  longer  you  breathed  it 
the  clearer  your  head  became,  and  the  better  you  felt, 
until  you  would  be  possessed  to  try  and  see  if  you  really 
couldn't  fly.  I  tried  that  last  summer,  and  knocked  my- 
self into  jelly.  You'd  think  once  would  have  been  enough, 
but  there  I  was  going  down  the  road  with  Laddie's  pie, 
and  wanting  with  all  my  heart  to  try  again. 

Sometimes  I  raced,  but  I  was  a  little  afraid  the  pie 
would  shoot  from  the  shingle  and  it  was  like  pulling  eye 
teeth  to  go  fast  that  morning.  I  loved  the  soft  warm 
dust,  that  was  working  up  on  the  road.  Spat!  Spat! 
I  brought  down  my  bare  feet,  already  scratched  and 
turning  brown,  and  laughed  to  myself  at  the  velvety 
feel  of  it.  There  were  little  puddles  yet,  where  May  and 
I  had  "dipped  and  faded"  last  fall,  and  it  was  fun  to 
wade  them.  The  roadsides  were  covered  with  meadow 
grass  and  clover  that  had  slipped  through  the  fence. 
On  slender  green  blades,  in  spot  after  spot,  twinkled  the 
delicate  bloom  of  blue-eyed  grass.  Never  in  all  this 
world  was  our  Big  Creek  lovelier.     It  went  slipping,  and 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  429 

whispering,  and  lipping,  and  lapping  over  the  stones, 
tugging  at  the  rushes  and  grasses  as  it  washed  their  feet; 
everything  beside  it  was  in  masses  of  bloom,  a  blackbird 
was  gleaming  and  preening  on  every  stone,  as  it  plumed 
after  its  bath.  Oh  there's  no  use  to  try — it  was  just 
Spring  when  it  couldn't  possibly  be  any  better. 

But  even  spring  couldn't  hold  me  very  long  that  morn- 
ing, for  you  see  my  heart  was  almost  sick  about  Laddie; 
and  if  he  couldn't  have  the  girl  he  wanted,  at  least  I 
could  do  my  best  to  comfort  him  with  the  pie.  I  was 
going  along  being  very  careful  the  more  I  thought  about 
how  he  would  like  it,  so  I  was  not  watching  the  road  so 
far  ahead  as  I  usually  did.  I  always  kept  a  lookout  for 
Paddy  Ryan,  Gypsies,  or  Whitmore's  bull.  When  I 
came  to  an  unusually  level  place,  and  took  a  long  glance 
ahead,  my  heart  turned  right  over  and  stopped  still, 
and  I  looked  long  enough  to  be  sure,  and  then  right  out 
loud  some  one  said,  "I'll  do  something!"  and  as  usual,  I 
was  the  only  one  there. 

For  days  I'd  been  in  a  ferment,  like  the  vinegar  barrel 
when  the  cider  boils,  or  the  yeast  jar  when  it  sets  too 
close  the  stove.  To  have  Laddie  and  the  Princess  sep- 
arated was  dreadful,  and  knowing  him  as  I  did,  I  knew  he 
never  really  would  get  over  it.  I  had  tried  to  help  once,, 
and  what  I  had  done  started  things  going  wrong;  no 
wonder  I  was  slow  about  deciding  what  to  try  next.  That 
I  was  going  to  do  something,  I  made  up  my  mind  the 
instant  Laddie  said  he  was  not  mad  at  me;  that  I  was  his 
partner,  and  asked  me  to  help;  but  exactly  what  would 
do  any  good,  took  careful  thought. 


430  LADDIE 

Here  was  my  chance  coming  right  at  me.  She  was 
far  up  the  road,  riding  Maud  like  racing.  I  began  to 
breathe  after  a  while,  like  you  always  do,  no  matter  how 
you  are  worked  up,  and  with  my  brain  whirling,  I  went 
slowly  toward  her.  How  would  I  manage  to  stop  her? 
Or  what  could  I  say  that  would  help  Laddie?  I  was 
shaking,  and  that's  the  truth;  but  through  and  over  it 
all,  I  was  watching  her  too.  I  only  wish  you  might  have 
seen  her  that  morning.  Of  course  the  morning  was 
part  of  it.  A  morning  like  that  would  make  a  fence  post 
better  looking.  Half  a  mile  away  you  could  see  she  was 
tipsy  with  spring  as  I  was,  or  the  song  sparrows,  or  the 
crazy  babbling  old  bobolinks  on  the  stakes  and  riders. 
She  made  such  a  bright  splash  against  the  pink  fence  row, 
with  her  dark  hair,  flushed  cheeks,  and  red  lips,  she  took 
my  breath.  Father  said  she  was  the  loveliest  girl  in  three 
counties,  and  Laddie  stretched  that  to  the  whole  world. 
As  she  came  closer,  smash!  through  me  went  the  thought 
that  she  looked  precisely  as  Shelley  had  at  Christmas  time; 
and  Shelley  had  been  that  way  because  she  was  in  love 
with  the  Paget  man.  Now  if  the  Princess  was  gleaming 
and  flashing  like  that,  for  the  same  reason,  there  wasn't 
any  one  for  her  to  love  so  far  as  I  knew,  except  Laddie. 

Then  smash!  came  another  thought.  She  had  to  love 
him!  She  couldn't  help  herself.  She  had  all  winter,  all 
last  summer,  and  no  one  but  themselves  knew  how  long 
before  that,  and  where  was  there  any  other  man  like 
Laddie?  Of  course  she  loved  him!  Who  so  deserving 
of  love?  Who  else  had  his  dancing  eyes  of  deep  tender 
blue,  cheeks  so  pink,  teeth  so  white,  such  waving  chestnut 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  431 

hair,  and  his  height  and  breadth?  There  was  no  other 
man  who  could  ride,  swim,  leap,  and  wrestle  as  he  could. 
None  who  could  sing  the  notes,  do  the  queer  sums  with 
letters  having  little  figures  at  the  corners  in  the  college 
books,  read  Latin  as  fast  as  English,  and  even  the  Greek 
Bible.  Of  course  she  loved  him!  Every  one  did!  Others 
might  plod  and  meander,  Laddie  walked  the  tired,  old 
road  that  went  out  of  sight  over  the  hill,  with  as  prideful 
a  step  as  any  king;  his  laugh  was  as  merry  as  the  song  of 
the  gladdest  thrush,  while  his  touch  was  so  gentle  that 
when  mother  was  in  dreadful  pain  I  sometimes  thought 
she  would  a  little  rather  have  him  hold  her  than  father. 

Now,  he  was  in  this  fearful  trouble,  the  colour  was 
going  from  his  face,  his  laugh  was  a  little  strained,  and 
the  heartache  almost  more  than  he  could  endure — and 
there  she  came!  I  stepped  squarely  in  the  middle  of  the 
road  so  she  would  have  to  stop  or  ride  over  me,  and  when 
she  was  close,  I  stood  quite  still.  I  was  watching  with 
my  eyes,  heart,  and  brain,  and  I  couldn't  see  that  she 
was  provoked,  as  she  drew  rein  and  cried:  "Good  morn- 
ing, Little  Queer  Person!" 

I  had  supposed  she  would  say  Little  Sister,  she  had 
for  ages,  just  like  Laddie,  but  she  must  have  thought  it 
was  queer  for  me  to  stop  her  that  way,  so  she  changed. 
I  was  in  for  it.  I  had  her  now,  so  I  smiled  the  very  sweet- 
est smile  that  I  could  think  up  in  such  a  hurry,  and  said, 
"Good  morning,"  the  very  politest  I  ever  did  in  all  my 
life.  Then  I  didn't  know  what  to  do  next,  but  she  helped 
me  out. 

"What  have  you  there?"  she  asked. 


432  LADDIE 

"It's  a  piece  of  the  very  first  rhubarb  pie  for  this  spring, 
and  I'm  carrying  it  to  Laddie,"  I  said,  as  I  lifted  the 
catalpa  leaf  and  let  her  peep,  just  to  show  her  how  pie 
looked  when  it  was  right.  I  bet  she  never  saw  a  nicer 
piece. 

The  Princess  slid  her  hand  down  Maud's  neck  to  quiet 
her  prancing,  and  leaned  in  the  saddle,  her  face  full  of 
interest.  I  couldn't  see  a  trace  of  anything  to  discourage 
me;  her  being  on  our  road  again  looked  favourable.  She 
seemed  to  think  quite  as  much  of  that  pie  as  I  did.  She 
was  the  finest  little  thoroughbred.  She  understood  so 
well,  I  was  sorry  I  couldn't  give  it  to  her.  It  made  her 
mouth  water  all  right,  for  she  drew  a  deep  breath^  that 
sort  of  quivered;  but  it  was  no  use,  she  didn't  get  that 
pie. 

"I  think  it  looks  delicious,"  she  said.  "Are  you  car- 
rying it  for  Candace?" 

"No!     She  gave  it  to  me.     It's  my  very  own." 

"And  you're  doing  without  it  yourself  to  carry  it  to 
Laddie,  I'll  be  bound!"  cried  the  Princess. 

"I'd  much  rather,"  I  said. 

"Do  you  love  Laddie  so  dearly?"  she  asked. 

My  heart  was  full  of  him  right  then;  I  forgot  all  about 
when  I  had  the  fever,  and  as  I  never  had  been  taught 
to  lie,  I  told  her  what  I  thought  was  the  truth,  and  I 
guess  it  was:  "  Best  of  any  one  in  all  this  world ! " 

The  Princess  looked  across  the  field,  where  she  must 
have  seen  him  finishing  the  plowing,  and  thought  that 
over,  and  I  waited,  sure  in  my  mind,  for  some  reasoR- 
that  she  would  not  go  for  a  little  while  longer. 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  433 

"I  have  been  wanting  to  see  you,"  she  said  at  last. 
"In  fact  I  think  I  came  this  way  hoping  I'd  meet  you. 
Do  you  know  the  words  to  a  tune  that  goes  like  this  ? " 

Then  she  began  to  whistle  "The  Merry  Farmer  Boy." 
I  wish  you  might  have  heard  the  flourishes  she  put  to  it. 

"Of  course  I  do,"  I  answered.  "All  of  us  were  brought 
up  on  it." 

"Well,  I  have  some  slight  curiosity  to  learn  what  they 
are,"  she  said.     "Would  you  kindly  repeat  them  forme?" 

"Yes,"  I  said.     "This  is  the  first  verse: 

"'See  the  merry  farmer  boy  tramp  the  meadows  through, 
Swing  his  hoe  in  careless  joy  while  dashing  off  the  dew. 
Babolink  in  maple  high ' 

"Of  course  you  can  see  for  yourself  that  they're  not. 
There  isn't  a  single  one  of  them  higher  than  a  fence  post. 
The  person  who  wrote  the  piece  had  to  put  it  that  way 
so  high  would  rhyme  with  reply,  which  is  coming  in  the 
next  line." 

"I  see!"  said  the  Princess. 

"'Bobolink  in  maple  high,  trills  a  note  of  glee. 
Farmer  boy  a  gay  reply  now  whistles  cheerily.' 

"Then  you  whistle  the  chorus  like  you  did  it." 
"You  do  indeed!"  said  the  Princess.     "Proceed!" 

"'Then  the  farmer  boy  at  noon,  rests  beneath  the  shade, 
Listening  to  the  ceaseless  tune  that's  thrilling  through 

the  glade. 
Long  and  loud  the  harvest  fly  winds  his  bugle  round, 
Long,  and  loud,  and  shrill,  and  high,  he  whistles  back 
the  sound."' 


434  LADDIE 

"He  does!  He  does  indeed!  I  haven't  a  doubt  about 
that!"  cried  the  Princess.  "'Long,  and  loud,  and  shrill, 
and  high,'  he  whistles  over  and  over  the  sound,  until 
it  becomes  maddening.  Is  that  all  of  that  melodious, 
entrancing  production?" 

"No,  evening  comes  yet.     The  last  verse  goes  this  way: 

""When  the  busy  day's  employ,  ends  at  dewy  eve, 

Then  the  happy  farmer  boy,  doth  haste  his  work  to  leave, 

Trudging  down  the  quiet  lane,  climbing  o'er  the  hill, 

Whistling  back  the  changeless  wail,  of  plaintive  whip-poor-will,' — 

and  then  you  do  the  chorus  again,  and  if  you  know  how 
well  enough  you  whistle  in,  'whip-poor-will,'  'til  the  birds 
will  answer  you.     Laddie  often  makes  them." 

"My  life!"  cried  the  Princess.  "Was  that  he  doing 
those  bird  cries?  Why,  I  hunted,  and  hunted,  and  so 
did  father.  We'd  never  seen  a  whip-poor-will.  Just 
fancy  us!" 

"If  you'd  only  looked  at  Laddie,"  I  said. 

"My  patience!"  cried  the  Princess.  "Looked  at  him! 
There  was  no  place  to  look  without  seeing  him.  And 
that  ear-splitting  thing  will  ring  in  my  head  forever,  I 
know." 

"Did  he  whistle  it  too  high  to  suit  you,  Princess?" 

"He  was  perfectly  welcome  to  whistle  as  he  chose," 
she  said,  "and  also  to  plow  with  the  carriage  horses,  and 
to  bedeck  them  and  himself  with  the  modest,  shrinking 
red  tulip  and  yellow  daffodil." 

Now  any  one  knows  that  tulips  and  daffodils  are  not 
modest   and   shrinking.     If  any  flowers  just   blaze   and 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  435 

scream  colour  clear  across  a  garden,  they  do.  She  was 
provoked,  you  could  see  that. 

"Well,  he  only  did  it  to  please  you,"  I  said.  "He 
didn't  care  anything  about  it.  He  never  plowed  that 
way  before.  But  you  said  he  mustn't  plow  at  all,  and 
he  just  had  to  plow,  there  was  no  escaping  that,  so  he 
made  it  as  fine  and  happy  as  possible  to  show  you  how 
nicely  it  could  be  done." 

"Greatly  obliged,  I'm  sure!"  cried  the  Princess.  "He 
showed  me!  He  certainly  did!  And  so  he  feels  that 
there's  'no  escaping'  plowing,  does  he?" 

Then  I  knew  where  I  was.  I'd  have  given  every  cent 
of  mine  in  father's  chest  till,  if  mother  had  been  in  my 
place.  Once,  for  a  second,  I  thought  I'd  ask  the  Princess 
to  go  with  me  to  the  house,  and  let  mother  tell  her  how  it 
was;  but  if  she  wouldn't  go,  and  rode  away,  I  felt  I 
couldn't  endure  it,  and  anyway,  she  had  said  she  was 
looking  for  me;  so  I  gripped  the  shingle,  dug  in  my  toes 
and  went  at  her  just  as  nearly  like  mother  talked  to  her 
father  as  I  could  remember,  and  I'd  been  put  through 
memory  tests,  and  descriptive  tests,  nearly  every  night 
of  my  life,  so  I  had  most  of  it  as  straight  as  a  string. 

"Well,  you  see,  he  cant  escape  it,"  I  said.  "He'd 
do  anything  in  all  this  world  for  you  that  he  possibly 
could;  but  there  are  some  things  no  man  can  do." 

"I  didn't  suppose  there  was  anything  you  thought 
Laddie  couldn't  do,"  she  said. 

"A  little  time  back,  I  didn't,"  I  answered.  "But 
since  he  took  the  carriage  horses,  trimmed  up  in  flowers, 
and  sang  and  whistled  so  bravely,  day  after  day,  when  his 


436  LADDIE 

heart  was  full  of  tears,  why  I  learned  that  there  was  some- 
thing he  just  couldn't  do;  not  to  save  his  life,  or  his  love,  or 
even  to  save  you." 

"And  of  course  you  don't  mind  telling  me  what  that 
is?"  coaxed  the  Princess  in  her  most  wheedling  tones. 

"Not  at  all!  He  told  our  family,  and  I  heard  him 
tell  your  father.  The  thing  he  can't  do,  not  even  to  win 
you,  is  to  be  shut  up  in  a  little  office,  in  a  city,  where 
things  roar,  and  smell,  and  nothing  is  like  this " 

I  pointed  out  the  orchard,  hill,  and  meadow,  so  she 
looked  where  I  showed  her — looked  a  long  time. 

"No,  a  city  wouldn't  be  like  this,"  she  said  slowly. 

"And  that  isn't  even  the  beginning,"  I  said.  "Maybe 
he  could  bear  that,  men  have  been  put  in  prison  and  lived 
through  years  and  years  of  it,  perhaps  Laddie  could  too; 
I  doubt  it!  but  anyway  the  worst  of  it  is  that  he  just 
couldn't,  not  even  to  save  you,  spend  ail  the  rest  of  his 
life  trying  to  settle  other  people's  old  fusses.  He  de- 
spises a  fuss.  Not  one  of  us  ever  in  our  lives  have  been 
able  to  make  him  quarrel,  even  one  word.  He  simply 
won't.  And  if  he  possibly  could  be  made  to  by  any  one 
on  earth,  Leon  would  have  done  it  long  ago,  for  he  can 
start  a  fuss  with  the  side  of  a  barn.  But  he  can't  make 
Laddie  fuss,  and  nobody  can.  He  never  would  at  school, 
or  anywhere.  Once  in  a  while  if  a  man  gets  so  overbear- 
ing that  Laddie  simply  can't  stand  it,  he  says:  'Now, 
you'll  take  your  medicine!'  Then  he  pulls  ofF  his  coat, 
and  carefully,  choosing  the  right  spots,  he  just  pounds 
the  breath  out  of  that  man,  but  he  never  stops  smil- 
ing, and  when  he  helps  him  up  he  always  says:     'Sorry! 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  437 

hope  you'll  excuse  me,  but  you  would  have  it/     That's 
what  he  said  about  you,  that  you  had  to  take  your  medi- 


cine  

I  made  a  mistake  there.  That  made  her  too  mad  for 
any  use. 

"Oh,"  she  cried,  "I  do?  I'll  jolly  well  show  the  gentle- 
man! 

"Oh,  you  needn't  take  the  trouble,"  I  cried.  "He's 
showing  you!" 

She  just  blazed  like  she'd  break  into  flame.  Any  one 
could  fuss  with  her  all  right;  but  that  was  the  last  thing 
on  earth  I  wanted  to  do. 

"You  see  he  already  knows  about  you,"  I  explained 
as  fast  as  I  could  talk,  for  I  was  getting  into  an  awful 
mess.  "You  see  he  knows  that  you  want  him  to  be  a 
lawyer,  and  that  he  must  quit  plowing  before  he  can 
be  more  than  friends  with  you.  That's  what  he's  plow- 
ing for!  If  it  wasn't  for  that,  probably  he  wouldn't 
be  plowing  at  all.  He  asked  father  to  let  him,  and  he 
borrowed  mother's  horses,  and  he  hooked  the  flowers 
through  the  fence.  Every  night  when  he  comes  home, 
he  kneels  beside  mother  and  asks  her  if  he  is  'repulsive,' 
and  she  takes  him  in  her  arms  and  the  tears  roll  down  her 
cheeks  and  she  says:  'Father  has  farmed  all  his  life,  and 
you  know  how  repulsive  he  is.'" 

I  ventured  an  upward  peep.  I  was  doing  better.  Her 
temper  seemed  to  be  cooling,  but  her  face  was  a  jumble. 
I  couldn't  find  any  one  thing  on  it  that  would  help  me, 
so  I  just  stumbled  ahead  guessing  at  what  to  say. 

"He  didn't  want  to  do  it.     He  perfectly  hated  it.     Those 


438  LADDIE 

fields  were  his  Waterloo.  Every  furrow  was  a  fight,  but 
he  was  forced  to  show  you." 

"Exactly  what  was  he  trying  to  show  me?" 

"I  can  think  of  three  things  he  told  me,"  I  answered. 
"That  plowing  could  be  so  managed  as  not  to  disfigure 
the  landscape " 

"The  dunce!"  she  said. 

"That  he  could  plow  or  do  dirtier  work,  and  not  be 
repulsive " 

"The  idiot!"  she  said. 

"That  if  he  came  over  there,  and  plowed  right  under 
your  nose,  when  you'd  told  him  he  mustn't,  or  he  couldn't 
be  more  than  friends;  and  when  you  knew  that  he'd 
much  rather  die  and  be  laid  beside  the  little  sisters  up 
there  in  the  cemetery  than  to  not  be  more  than  friends, 
why,  you'd  see,  if  he  did  that,  he  couldn't  help  it,  that 
he  just  must.     That  he  was  forced " 

"The  soldier!"  she  said. 

"Oh  Princess,  he  didn't  want  to!"  I  cried.  "He  tells 
me  secrets  he  doesn't  any  one  else,  unless  you.  He  told 
me  how  he  hated  it;  but  he  just  had  to  do  it." 

"  Do  you  know  why  ?  " 

"Of  course!  It's  the  way  he's  made!  Father  is  like 
that!  He  has  chances  to  live  in  cities,  make  big  business 
deals,  and  go  to  the  legislature  at  Indianapolis;  I've  seen 
his  letters  from  his  friend  Oliver  P.  Morton,  our  Governor, 
you  know;  they're  in  his  chest  till  now;  but  father  can't 
do  it,  because  he  is  made  so  he  stays  at  home  and  works 
for  us,  and  this  farm,  and  township,  and  county  where  he 
belongs.     He  says  if  all  men  will  do  that  the  millennium 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  439 

will  come  to-morrow.  I  'spose  you  know  what  the 
millennium  is?" 

"I  do!"  said  the  Princess.  "But  I  don't  know  what 
your  father  and  his  friend  Oliver  P.  Morton  have  to  do 
with  Laddie." 

"Why,  everything  on  earth!  Laddie  is  father's  son, 
you  see,  and  he  is  made  like  father.  None  of  our  other 
boys  is.  Not  one  of  them  loves  land.  Leon  is  going 
away  as  quick  as  ever  he  finishes  college;  but  the  more 
you  educate  Laddie,  the  better  he  likes  to  make  things 
grow,  the  more  he  loves  to  make  the  world  beautiful, 
to  be  kind  to  every  one,  to  gentle  animals — why,  the 
biggest  fight  he  ever  had,  the  man  he  whipped  'til  he 
most  couldn't  bring  him  back  again,  was  one  who  kicked 
his  horse  in  the  stomach.  Gee,  I  thought  he'd  killed  him! 
Laddie  did  too  for  a  while,  but  he  only  said  the  man  de- 
served it." 

"And  so  he  did!"  cried  the  Princess  angrily.  "How 
beastly!" 

"That's  one  reason  Laddie  sticks  so  close  to  land. 
He  says  he  doesn't  meet  nearly  so  many  two-legged  beasts 
in  the  country.  Almost  every  time  he  goes  to  town  he 
either  gets  into  a  fight  or  he  sees  something  that  makes 
him  fighting  mad.  Princess,  you  think  this  beautiful, 
don't  you?" 

I  just  pointed  anywhere.  All  the  world  was  in  it  that 
morning.  You  couldn't  look  right  or  left  and  not  see 
lovely  places,  hear  music,  and  smell  flowers. 

"Yes!     It  is  altogether  wonderful!"  she  said. 

"Would  you  like  to  live  among  this  all  your  life,  and 


440  LADDIE 

have  your  plans  made  to  fix  you  a  place  even  nicer,  and 
then  be  forced  to  leave  it  and  go  to  a  little  room  in  the 
city,  and  make  all  the  money  you  earned  off  of  how  much 
other  men  fight  over  business,  and  land  and  such  perfectly 
awful  things,  that  they  always  have  to  be  whispered  when 
Jerry  tells  about  them?     Would  you?" 

"You  little  dunce!"  she  cried. 

"I  know  I'm  a  fool.  I  know  I'm  not  telling  you  a  single 
thing  I  should!  Maybe  I'm  hurting  Laddie  far  more  than 
I'm  helping  him,  and  if  I  am,  I  wish  I  would  die  before 
I  see  him;  but  oh!  Princess,  I'm  trying  with  all  my  might 
to  make  you  understand  how  he  feels.  Lie  wants  to  do 
every  least  thing  you'd  like  him  to.  He  will,  almost  any 
thing  else  in  the  world,  he  would  this — he  would  in  a  min- 
ute, but  he  just  can't.  All  of  us  know  he  can't!  If  you'd 
lived  with  him  since  he  was  little  and  always  had  known 
him,  you  wouldn't  ask  him  to;  you  wouldn't  want  him  to! 
You  don't  know  what  you're  doing!  Mother  says  you 
don't!  You'll  kill  him  if  you  send  him  to  the  city  to  live, 
you  just  will!  You  are  doing  it  now!  He's  getting 
thinner  and  whiter  every  day.  Don't!  Oh  please  don't 
doit!" 

The  Princess  was  looking  at  the  world.  She  was 
gazing  at  it  so  dazed-like  she  seemed  to  be  surprised  at 
what  she  saw.  She  acted  as  if  she'd  never  really  seen 
it  before.  She  looked  and  she  looked.  She  even  turned 
her  horse  a  full  circle  to  see  all  of  it,  and  she  went  around 
slowly.  I  stepped  from  one  foot  to  the  other  and  sweat; 
but  I  kept  quiet  and  let  her  look.  At  last  when  she  came 
around,  she  glanced  down  at  me,  and  she  was  all  melted, 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  441 

and  lovely  as  any  one  you  ever  saw,  exactly  like  Shelley 
at  Christmas,  and  she  said:  "I  don't  think  I  ever  saw  the 
world  before.  I  don't  know  that  I'm  so  crazy  about  a 
city  myself,  and  I  perfectly  hate  lawyers.  Come  to 
think  of  it,  a  lawyer  helped  work  ruin  in  our  family,  and 
I  never  have  believed,  I  never  will  believe " 

She  stopped  talking  and  began  looking  again.  I  gave 
her  all  the  time  she  needed.  I  was  just  straining  to  be 
wise,  for  mother  says  it  takes  the  very  wisest  person  there 
is  to  know  when  to  talk,  and  when  to  keep  still.  As  I 
figured  it,  now  was  the  time  not  to  say  another  word  until 
she  made  up  her  mind  about  what  I  had  told  her  already. 
If  Pryors  didn't  know  what  we  thought  of  them  by  that 
time,  it  wasn't  mother's  fault  or  mine.  As  she  studied 
things  over  she  kept  on  looking.  What  she  saw  seemed 
to  be  doing  her  a  world  of  good.  Her  face  showed  it  every 
second  plainer  and  plainer.  Pretty  soon  it  began  to  look 
like  she  was  going  to  come  through  as  Amos  Hurd  did 
when  he  was  redeemed.  Then,  before  my  very  eyes,  it 
happened!  I  don't  know  how  I  ever  held  on  to  the  pie 
or  kept  from  shouting,  "Praise  the  Lord!"  as  father  does 
at  the  Meeting  House  when  he  is  happiest.  Then  she 
leaned  toward  me  all  wavery,  and  shining  eyed,  and 
bloomful,  and  said:  "Did  you  ever  hurt  Laddie's  feelings, 
■and  make  him  angry  and  sad?" 

"I'm  sure  I  never  did,"  I  answered. 

"But  suppose  you  had!     What  would  you  do?" 

"  Do  ?  Why,  I'd  go  to  him  on  the  run,  and  I'd  tell  him  I 
never  intended  to  hurt  his  feelings,  and  how  sorry  I  was, 
and  I'd  give  him  the  very  best  kiss  I  could." 


442  LADDIE 

The  Princess  stroked  Maud's  neck  a  long  time  and 
thought  while  she  studied  our  farm,  theirs  beyond  it, 
and  at  the  last,  the  far  field  where  Laddie  was  plowing. 
She  thought,  and  thought,  and  afraid  to  cheep,  I  stood 
gripping  the  shingle  and  waited.  Finally  she  said:  "The 
last  time  Laddie  was  at  our  house,  I  said  to  him  those 
things  he  repeated  to  you.  He  went  away  at  once,  hurt 
and  disappointed.  Now,  if  you  like,  along  with  your 
precious  pie,  you  may  carry  him  this  message  from  me. 
You  may  tell  him  that  I  said  I  am  sorry!" 

I  could  have  cried  "Glory!"  and  danced  and  shouted 
there  in  the  road,  but  I  didn't.  It  was  no  time  to  lose 
my  head.  That  was  all  so  fine  and  splendid,  as  far  as 
it  went,  but  it  didn't  quite  cover  the  case.  I  never  could 
have  done  it  for  myself;  but  for  Laddie  I  would  venture 
anything,  so  I  looked  her  in  the  eyes,  straight  as  a  dart, 
and  said:  "He'd  want  the  kiss  too,  Princess!" 

You  could  see  her  stiffen  in  the  saddle  and  her  fingers 
grip  the  reins,  but  I  kept  on  staring  right  into  her  eyes. 

"I  could  come  up,  you  know,"  I  offered. 

A  dull  red  flamed  in  her  cheeks  and  her  lips  closed 
tight.  One  second  she  sat  very  still,  then  a  dancing  light 
leaped  sparkling  into  her  eyes;  a  flock  of  dimples  chased 
each  other  around  her  lips  like  swallows  circling  their 
homing  place  at  twilight. 

"What  about  that  wonderful  pie?"  she  asked  me. 

I  ran  to  the  nearest  fence  corner,  and  laid  the  shingle 
on  the  gnarled  roots  of  a  Johnny  Appleseed  apple  tree. 
Then  I  set  one  foot  on  the  arch  of  the  Princess'  instep 
and  held  up  my  hands.     One  second  I  thought  she  would 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  443 

not  lift  me,  the  next  I  was  on  her  level  and  her  lips  met 
mine  in  a  touch  like  velvet  woven  from  threads  of  flame. 
Then  with  a  turn  of  her  stout  little  wrist,  she  dropped  me, 
and  a  streak  went  up  our  road.  Nothing  so  amazing 
and  so  important  ever  had  happened  to  me.  It  was 
an  occasion  that  demanded  something  unusual.  To 
cry,  "Praise  the  Lord!"  was  only  to  repeat  an  hourly 
phrase  at  our  house;  this  demanded  something  out  of  the 
ordinary,  so  I  said  just  exactly  as  father  did  the  day  the 
brown  mare  balked  with  the  last  load  of  seed  clover,  when 
a  big  storm  was  breaking — "Jupiter  Ammon!" 

When  I  had  calmed  down  so  I  could,  I  climbed  the 
fence,  and  reached  through  a  crack  for  the  pie.  As  I 
followed  the  cool,  damp  furrow,  and  Laddie's  whistle, 
clear  as  the  lark's  above  the  wheat,  thrilled  me,  I  was 
almost  insane  with  joy.  Just  joy!  Pure  joy!  Oh  what 
a  good  world  it  was! — most  of  the  time!  Most  of  the 
time!  Of  course,  there  were  Paget  men  in  it.  But  any- 
way, this  couldn't  be  beaten.  I  had  a  message  for  Laddie 
from  the  Princess  that  would  send  him  to  the  seventh 
heaven,  wherever  that  was;  no  one  at  our  house  spent 
any  time  thinking  farther  than  the  first  one.  I  had  her 
kiss,  that  I  didn't  know  what  would  do  to  him,  and  I  also 
had  a  big  piece  of  juicy  rhubarb  pie  not  yet  entirely  cold. 
If  that  didn't  wipe  out  the  trouble  I  had  made  showing 
the  old  crest  thing,  nothing  ever  could.  I  knew  even 
then,  that  men  were  pretty  hard  to  satisfy,  but  I  was 
quite  certain  that  Laddie  would  be  satisfied  that  morning. 
As  I  hurried  along  I  wondered  whether  it  would  be  better 
to  give  him  my  gift  first,  or  the  Princess'.     I  decided  that 


444  LADDIE 

joy  would  keep,  while  the  pie  was  cold  enough,  with  all  the 
time  I  had  stopped;  and  if  I  told  him  about  her  first, 
maybe  he  wouldn't  touch  it  at  all,  and  it  wasn't  so  easy 
as  it  looked  to  carry  it  to  him  and  never  even  once  stick 
in  my  finger  for  the  tiniest  lick — joy  would  keep;  but  I 
was  going  to  feed  him;  so  with  shining  face,  I  offered  the 
pie  and  stood  back  to  see  just  how  happy  I  could  get. 

"Mother  send  it?"  asked  Laddie. 

People  were  curious  that  morning,  as  if  I  had  a  habit 
of  stealing  pie.  I  only  took  pieces  of  cut  ones  from  the 
cellar  when  mother  didn't  care.  So  I  explained  again 
that  Candace  gave  it  to  me,  and  I  was  free  to  bring  it. 

"Oh  I  see!"  said  Laddie. 

After  nearly  two  weeks  of  work,  the  grays  had  sobered 
down  enough  to  stand  without  tying;  so  he  wound  the 
lines  around  the  plow  handle,  sat  on  the  beam,  and  laid 
aside  his  hat,  having  a  fresh  flower  in  the  band.  Once 
he  started  a  thing,  he  just  simply  wouldn't  give  up.  He 
unbuttoned  his  neckband  until  I  could  see  his  throat 
where  it  was  white  like  a  woman's,  took  out  his  knife  and 
ate  that  pie.  Of  course  we  knew  better  than  to  use  a 
knife  at  the  table,  but  there  was  no  other  way  in  the  field. 
He  ate  that  pie,  slowly  and  deliberately,  and  between 
bites  he  talked.  I  watched  him  with  a  wide  grin,  won- 
dering what  in  this  world  he  would  say,  in  a  minute.  I 
don't  think  I  ever  had  quite  such  a  good  time  in  all  my 
life  before,  and  I  never  expect  to  again.  He  was  saying: 
"Talk  about  nectar  and  ambrosia!  Talk  about  the  feasts 
of  Lucullus!     Talk  about  food  for  the  Gods!" 

I  put  on  his  hat,  sat  on  the  ground  in  front  of  him,  and 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  445 

was  the  happiest  girl  in  the  world,  of  that  I  am  quite  sure. 
When  the  last  morsel  was  finished,  Laddie  looked  at  me 
steadily. 

"I  wonder,"  he  said,  "I  wonder  if  there's  another  man 
in  the  world  who  is  blest  with  quite  such  a  loving,  un- 
selfish little  sister  as  mine?"  Then  he  answered  himself: 
"No!     By  all  the  Gods,  and  half-Gods,  I  swear  it—  No!" 

It  was  grand  as  a  Fourth  of  July  oration  or  the  most 
exciting  part  when  the  Bishop  dedicated  our  church.  I 
couldn't  hold  in  another  second,  I  could  hear  my  heart 
beat. 

"Oh  Laddie!"  I  shouted,  jumping  up,  "that  pie  is 
only  the  beginning  of  the  good  things  I  have  brought  you. 
I  have  a  message,  and  a  gift  besides,  Laddie!" 

"A  message  and  a  gift?"  Laddie  repeated.  "What! 
More?" 

"Truly  I  have  a  message  and  a  gift  for  you,"  I  cried, 
"and  Laddie — they  are  from  the  Princess!" 

His  eyes  raised  to  mine  now,  and  slowly  he  turned 
Sabethany-like. 

"From  the  Princess!"  he  exclaimed.  "A  message  and 
a  gift  for  me,  Little  Sister?  You  never  would  let  Leon 
put  you  up  to  serve  me  a  trick?" 

That  hurt-.  He  should  have  known  I  wouldn't,  and 
besides,  "Leon  feels  just  as  badly  about  this  as  any  of 
us,"  I  said.  "Have  you  forgotten  he  offered  to  plow, 
and  let  you  do  the  clean,  easy  work?" 

"Forgive  me!  I'm  overanxious,"  said  Laddie,  his 
arms  reaching  for  me.  "Go  on  and  tell  carefully,  and 
if  you  truly  love  me,  don't  make  a  mistake!" 


446  LADDIE 

Crowding  close,  my  arms  around  his  neck,  his  crisp  hair 
against  my  lips,  I  whispered  my  story  softly,  for  this  was 
such  a  fine  and  splendid  secret,  that  not  even  the  shining 
blackbirds,  and  the  pert  robins  in  the  furrows  were  going  to 
get  to  hear  a  word  of  it.  Before  I  had  finished  Laddie  was 
breathing  as  Flos  does  when  he  races  her  the  limit.  He  sat 
motionless  for  a  long  time,  while  over  his  face  slowly  crept 
a  beauty  that  surpassed  that  of  Apollo  in  his  Greek  book. 

"And  her  gift?" 

It  was  only  a  breath. 

"She  helped  me  up,  and  she  sent  you  this,"  I  answered. 

Then  I  set  my  lips  on  his,  and  held  them  there  a  second, 
trying  my  level  best  to  give  him  her  very  kiss,  but  of 
course  I  could  only  try. 

"Oh  Laddie,"  I  cried.  "Her  eyes  were  like  when  stars 
shine  down  in  our  well!  Her  cheeks  were  like  mother's 
damask  roses!  She  smelled  like  flowers,  and  when  her 
lips  touched  mine  little  stickers  went  all  over  me!" 

Then  Laddie's  arms  closed  around  me  and  I  thought 
sure  every  bone  in  my  body  was  going  to  be  broken;  when 
he  finished  there  wasn't  a  trace  of  that  kiss  left  for  me. 
Remembering  it  would  be  all  I'd  ever  have.  It  made  me 
see  what  would  have  happened  to  the  Princess  if  she  had 
been  there;  and  it  was  an  awful  pity  for  her  to  miss  it, 
because  he'd  sober  down  a  lot  before  he  reached  her,  but  I 
was  sure  as  shooting  that  he  wouldn't  be  so  crazy  as  to 
kiss  her  hands  again.     Peter  wasn't  a  patching  to  him! 

That  night  Laddie  rode  to  Pryors'.  When  he  brought 
Flos  to  the  gate  you  could  see  the  shadow  of  your  face 
on  her  shining  flank;  her  mane  and  tail  were  like  ravelled 


THE  PRINCESS  AND  THE  PIE  447 

silk,  her  hoofs  bright  as  polished  horn,  and  her  muzzle 
was  clean  as  a  ribbon.  I  broke  one  of  those  rank  green 
sprouts  from  the  snowball  bush  and  brushed  away  the 
flies,  so  she  wouldn't  fret,  stamp,  and  throw  dust  on  her- 
self. Then  Laddie  came,  fresh  from  a  tubbing,  starched 
linen,  dressed  in  his  new  riding  suit,  and  wearing  top  hat 
and  gauntlets.  He  looked  the  very  handsomest  I  ever 
had  seen  him;  and  at  the  same  time,  he  seemed  trembling 
with  tenderness,  and  bursting  with  power.  Goodness 
sake!  I  bet  the  Princess  took  one  good  look  and  "came 
down"  like  Davy  Crockett's  coon.  Mother  was  on  his 
arm  and  she  walked  clear  to  the  gate  with  him. 

"Laddie,  are  you  sure  enough  to  go?"  I  heard  her  ask 
him  whisper-like. 

"Sure  as  death!"  Laddie  answered. 

Mother  looked,  and  she  had  to  see  how  it  was  with  him; 
no  doubt  she  saw  more  than  I  did  from  having  been 
through  it  herself,  so  she  smiled  kind  of  a  half-sad,  half- 
glad  smile.  Then  she  turned  to  her  damask  rose  bush, 
the  one  Lucy  brought  her  from  the  city,  and  that  she  was 
so  precious  about,  that  none  of  us  dared  touch  it,  and  she 
searched  all  over  it  and  carefully  selected  the  most  perfect 
rose.  When  she  borrowed  Laddie's  knife  and  cut  the 
stem  as  long  as  my  arm,  I  knew  exactly  how  great  and 
solemn  the  occasion  was;  for  always  before  about  six 
.  inches  had  been  her  limit.  She  held  it  toward  him,  smil- 
ing bravely  and  beautifully,  but  the  tears  were  running 
straight  down  her  cheeks. 

"Take  it  to  her,"  she  said.  "I  think,  my  son,  it  is 
very  like." 


44§  LADDIE 

Laddie  took  her  in  his  arms  and  wiped  away  the  tears; 
he  told  her  everything  would  come  out  all  right  about 
God,  and  the  mystery,  even.  Then  he  picked  me  clear  off 
the  ground,  and  he  tried  to  see  how  near  he  could  come 
to  cracking  every  bone  in  my  body  without  really  doing 
it,  and  he  kissed  me  over  and  over.  It  hadn't  been  so 
easy,  but  I  guess  you'll  admit  that  paid.  Then  he  rode 
away  with  the  damask  rose  waving  over  his  heart.  Mother 
and  I  stood  beside  the  hitching  rack  and  looked  after 
him,  with  our  arms  tight  around  each  other  while  we  tried 
to  see  which  one  could  bawl  the  hardest. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
The  Homing  Pigeon 

"A  millstone  and  the  human  heart, 
Are  ever  driven  round, 
And  if  they've  nothing  else  to  grind, 
They  must  themselves  be  ground." 

"T  SEEMED  to  me  that  my  mother  was  the  person 
who  really  could  have  been  excused  for  having  heart 
trouble.  The  more  I  watched  her,  the  more  I  won- 
dered that  she  didn't.  There  was  her  own  life,  the  one  she 
and  father  led,  where  everything  went  exactly  as  she 
wanted  it  to;  and  if  there  had  been  only  themselves  to 
think  of,  no  people  on  earth  could  have  lived  happier,  un- 
less the  pain  she  sometimes  suffered  made  them  trouble, 
and  I  don't  think  it  would,  for  neither  of  them  were  to 
blame  for  that.  They  couldn't  help  it.  They  just  had  it 
to  stand,  and  fight  the  stifFest  they  could  to  cure  it,  and 
mother  always  said  she  was  better;  every  single  time  any 
one  asked,  she  was  better.  I  hoped  soon  it  would  all  be 
gone.  Then  they  could  have  been  happy  for  sure,  if 
some  of  us  hadn't  popped  up  and  kept  them  in  hot  water 
all  the  time. 

I  can't  tell  you  about  Laddie  when  he  came  back  from 
Pryors'.  He  tore  down  the  house,  then  tore  it  up,  and 
then   threw   around   the   pieces,   and   none  of  us   cared. 

449 


45o  LADDIE 

Every  one  was  just  laughing,  shouting,  and  every  bit 
as  pleased  as  he  was,  while  I  was  the  Queen  Bee.  Laddie 
said  so,  himself,  and  if  he  didn't  know,  no  one  did.  Pryors 
had  been  lovely  to  him.  When  mother  asked  him  how 
he  made  it,  he  answered:  "I  rode  over,  picked  up  the 
Princess  and  helped  myself.  After  I  finished,  I  remem- 
bered the  little  unnecessary  formality  of  asking  her  to 
marry  me;  and  she  said  right  out  loud  that  she  would. 
When  I  had  time  for  them,  I  reached  Father  and  Mother 
Pryor,  and  maybe  it  doesn't  show,  but  somewhere  on  my 
person  I  carry  their  blessing,  genially  and  heartily  given, 
I  am  proud  to  state.  Now,  I'm  only  needing  yours,  to 
make  me  a  king  among  men." 

They  gave  it  quite  as  willingly,  I  am  sure,  although 
you  could  see  mother  scringe  when  Laddie  said  "Father 
and  Mother  Pryor."  I  knew  why.  She  adored  Laddie, 
like  the  Bible  says  you  must  adore  the  Almighty.  From 
a  tiny  baby  Laddie  had  taken  care  of  her.  He  used  to 
go  back,  take  her  hand,  and  try  to  help  her  over  rough 
places  while  he  still  wore  dresses.  Straight  on,  he  had 
been  like  that;  always  seeing  when  there  was  too  much 
work  and  trying  to  shield  her;  always  knowing  when  a 
pain  was  coming  and  fighting  to  head  it  off;  always  re- 
membering the  things  the  others  forgot,  going  to  her  last 
at  night,  and  his  face  against  hers  on  her  pillow  the  first 
in  the  morning,  to  learn  how  she  was  before  he  left  the 
house.  If  you  were  the  mother  of  a  man  like  that,  how 
would  you  like  to  hear  him  call  some  one  else  mother,  and 
have  the  word  slip  from  his  tongue  so  slick  you  could  see 
he  didn't  even  realize  that  he  had  used  it?     The  answer 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  451 

would  be,  if  you  were  honest,  that  you  wouldn't  have  liked 
it  any  more  than  she  did.  She  knew  he  had  to  go.  She 
wanted  him  to  be  happy.  She  was  as  sure  of  the  man  he 
was  going  to  be  as  she  was  sure  of  the  mercy  of  God. 
That  is  the  strongest  way  I  know  to  tell  it.  She  was  un- 
shakably  sure  of  the  mercy  of  God,  but  I  wasn't.  There 
were  times  when  it  seemed  as  if  He  couldn't  hear  the  most 
powerful  prayer  you  could  pray,  and  when  instead  of 
mercy,  you  seemed  to  get  the  last  torment  that  could  be 
piled  on.  Take  right  now.  Laddie  was  happy,  and  all  of 
us  were,  in  a  way;  and  in  another  we  v/ere  almost  stiff  with 
misery. 

I  dreaded  his  leaving  us  so,  I  would  slip  to  the  hawk 
oak  and  cry  myself  sick,  more  than  once;  whether  any 
of  the  others  were  that  big  babies  I  don't  know;  but  any- 
way, they  were  not  his  Little  Sister.  I  was.  I  always  had 
been.  I  always  would  be,  for  that  matter;  but  there  was 
going  to  be  a  mighty  big  difference.  I  had  the  poor  com- 
fort that  I'd  done  the  thing  myself.  Maybe  if  it  hadn't 
been  for  stopping  the  Princess  when  I  took  him  that  pie, 
they  never  would  have  made  up,  and  she  might  have  gone 
across  the  sea  and  stayed  there.  Maybe  she'd  go  yet, 
as  mysteriously  as  she  had  come,  and  take  him  along. 
Sometimes  I  almost  wished  I  hadn't  tried  to  help  him; 
but  of  course  I  didn't  really.  Then,  too,  I  had  sense 
enough  to  know  that  loving  each  other  as  they  did,  they 
wouldn't  live  on  that  close  together  for  years  and  years, 
and  not  find  a  way  to  make  up  for  themselves,  like  they 
had  at  the  start.  I  liked  Laddie  saying  I  had  made  his 
happiness  for  him;  but  I  wasn't  such  a  fool  that  I  didn't 


452  LADDIE 

know  he  could  have  made  it  for  himself  just  as  well,  and 
no  doubt  better.  So  everything  was  all  right  with  Lad- 
die; and  what  happened  to  us,  the  day  he  rode  away  for 
the  last  time,  when  he  went  to  stay — what  happened  to 
us,  then,  was  our  affair.  We  had  to  take  it,  but  every 
one  of  us  dreaded  it,  while  mother  didn't  know  how  to 
bear  it,  and  neither  did  I.  Once  I  said  to  her:  "Mother, 
when  Laddie  goes  we'll  just  have  to  make  it  up  to  each 
other  the  best  we  can,  won't  we?" 

"Oh  my  soul,  child!"  she  cried,  staring  at  me  so  sur- 
prised-like.  "Why,  how  unspeakably  selfish  I  have  beenl 
No  little  lost  sheep  ever  ran  this  farm  so  desolate  as  you 
will  be  without  your  brother.  Forgive  me  baby,  and 
come  here!" 

Gee,  but  we  did  cry  it  out  together!  The  God  she 
believed  in  has  wiped  away  her  tears  long  ago;  this  minute 
I  can  scarcely  see  the  paper  for  mine.  If  you  could  call 
anything  happiness,  that  was  mixed  with  feeling  like 
that,  why,  then,  we  were  happy  about  Laddie.  But  from 
things  I  heard  father  and  mother  say,  I  knew  they  could 
have  borne  his  going  away,  and  felt  a  trifle  better  than 
they  did.  I  was  quite  sure  they  had  stopped  thinking 
that  he  was  going  to  lose  his  soul,  but  they  couldn't  help 
feeling  so  long  as  that  old  mystery  hung  over  Pryors  that 
he  might  get  into  trouble  through  it.  Father  said  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  Mr.  Pryor's  stubborn  and  perverted 
notions  about  God,  he  would  like  the  man  immensely, 
and  love  to  be  friends;  and  if  Laddie  married  into  the 
family  we  would  have  to  be  as  friendly  as  we  could  any- 
way.    He  said  he  had  such  a  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Pryor's 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  453 

integrity  that  he  didn't  believe  he'd  encourage  Laddie 
to  enter  his  family  if  it  would  involve  the  boy  in  serious 
trouble.  Mother  didn't  know.  Anyway,  the  thing  was 
done,  and  by  fall,  no  doubt,  Laddie  would  leave  us. 

Just  when  we  were  trying  to  keep  a  stifF  upper  lip 
before  him,  and  whistling  as  hard  as  ever  he  had,  to  brace 
our  courage,  a  letter  came  for  mother  from  the  head  of 
the  music  school  Shelley  attended,  saying  she  was  no 
longer  fit  for  work,  so  she  was  being  sent  home  at  once, 
and  they  would  advise  us  to  consult  a  specialist  immedi- 
ately. Mother  sat  and  stared  at  father,  and  father  went 
to  hitch  the  horses  to  drive  to  Groveville. 

There's  only  one  other  day  of  my  life  that  stands  out 
as  clearly  as  that.  The  house  was  clean  as  we  could 
make  it.  I  finished  feeding  early,  and  had  most  of  the 
time  to  myself.  I  went  down  to  the  Big  Hill,  and  followed 
the  top  of  it  to  our  woods.  Then  I  turned  around,  and 
started  toward  the  road,  just  idling.  If  I  saw  a  lovely 
spot  I  sat  down  and  watched  all  around  me  to  see  if  a 
Fairy  really  would  go  slipping  past,  or  lie  asleep  under 
a  leaf.  I  peeked  and  peered  softly,  going  from  spot  to 
spot,  watching  everything.  Sometimes  I  hung  over  the 
water,  and  studied  tiny  little  fish  with  red,  yellow,  and 
blue  on  them,  bright  as  flowers.  The  dragonflies  would 
alight  right  on  me,  and  some  wore  bright  blue  markings 
and  some  blood  red.  There  was  a  blue  beetle,  a  beautiful 
green  fly,  and  how  the  blue  wasps  did  flip,  flirt  and  glint 
in  the  light.  So  did  the  blackbirds  and  the  redwings. 
That  embankment  was  left  especially  to  shade  the  water, 
and  to  feed  the  birds.      Every  foot  of  it  was  covered 


454  LADDIE 

with  alders,  wild  cherry,  hazelbush,  mulberries,  everything 
having  a  berry  or  nut.  There  were  several  scrub  apple 
trees,  many  red  haws,  the  wild  strawberries  spread  in  big 
beds  in  places,  and  some  of  them  were  colouring. 
>f  Wild  flowers  grew  everywhere,  great  beds  were  blue 
with  calamus,  and  the  birds  flocked  in  companies  to 
drive  away  the  water  blacksnakes  that  often  found  nests, 
and  liked  eggs  and  bird  babies.  When  I  came  to  the 
road  at  last,  the  sun  was  around  so  the  big  oak  on  the 
top  of  the  hill  threw  its  shadow  across  the  bridge,  and 
I  lay  along  one  edge  and  watched  the  creek  bottom,  or 
else  I  sat  up  so  the  water  flowed  over  my  feet,  and  looked 
at  the  embankment  and  the  sky.  In  a  way,  it  was  the 
most  peculiar  day  of  my  life.  I  had  plenty  to  think  of, 
but  I  never  thought  at  all.  I  only  lived.  I  sat  watching 
the  world  go  past  through  a  sort  of  golden  haze  the  sun 
made.  When  a  pair  of  kingbirds  and  three  crows  chased 
one  of  my  hawks  pell-mell  across  the  sky,  I  looked  on 
and  didn't  give  a  cent  what  happened.  When  a  big  black- 
snake  darted  its  head  through  sweet  grass  and  cattails, 
and  caught  a  frog  that  had  climbed  on  a  mossy  stone  in 
the  shade  to  dine  on  flies,  I  let  it  go.  Any  other  time 
I  would  have  hunted  a  stick  and  made  the  snake  let 
loose.  To-day  I  just  sat  there  and  let  things  happen  as 
they  did. 

At  last  I  wandered  up  the  road,  climbed  the  back  garden 
fence,  and  sat  on  the  board  at  the  edge  of  a  flowerbed, 
and  to-day,  I  could  tell  to  the  last  butterfly  about  that 
garden:  what  was  in  bloom,  how  far  things  had  grown, 
and  what  happened.     Bobby  flew  under  the  Bartlett  pear 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  455 

tree  and  crowed  for  me,  but  I  never  called  him.  I  sat 
there  and  lived  on,  and  mostly  watched  the  bees  tumble 
over  the  bluebells.  They  were  almost  ready  to  be  cut 
to  put  in  the  buttered  tumblers  for  perfume,  like  mother 
made  for  us.  Then  I  went  into  the  house  and  looked  at 
Grace  Greenwood,  but  I  didn't  take  her  along.  Mother 
came  past  and  gave  me  a  piece  of  stiff  yellow  brocaded 
silk  as  lovely  as  I  ever  had  seen,  enough  for  a  dress  skirt; 
and  a  hand-embroidered  chemise  sleeve  that  only  needed 
a  band  and  a  button  to  make  a  petticoat  for  a  Queen  doll, 
but  I  laid  them  away  and  wandered  into  the  orchard. 

I  dragged  my  bare  feet  through  the  warm  grass,  and 
finally  sat  under  the  beet  red  peach  tree.  If  ever  I 
seemed  sort  of  lost  and  sorry  for  myself,  that  was  a  good 
place  to  go;  it  was  so  easy  to  feel  abused  there  because 
you  didn't  dare  touch  those  peaches.  Fluffy  baby  chick- 
ens were  running  around,  but  I  didn't  care;  there  was 
more  than  a  bird  for  every  tree,  bluebirds  especially;  they 
just  loved  us  and  came  early  and  stayed  late,  and  grew 
so  friendly  they  nested  all  over  the  wood  house,  smoke 
house,  and  any  place  we  fixed  for  them,  and  in  every  hol- 
low apple  limb.  Bobby  came  again,  but  I  didn't  pay 
any  attention  to  him. 

Then  I  heard  the  carriage  cross  the  bridge.  I  knew 
when  it  was  father,  every  single  time  his  team  touched 
the  first  plank.  So  I  ran  like  an  Indian,  and  shinned  up 
a  cedar  tree,  scratching  myself  until  I  bled.  Away  up 
I  stood  on  a  limb,  held  to  the  tree  and  waited.  Father 
drove  to  the  gate,  and  mother  came  out,  with  May,  Can- 
dace,   and  Leon  following.     When  Shelley  touched  the 


456  LADDIE 

ground  and  straightened,  any  other  tree  except  a  spruce 
having  limbs  to  hold  me  up,  I  would  have  fallen  from  it. 
She  looked  exactly  as  if  she  had  turned  to  tombstone  with 
eyes  and  hair  alive.  She  stopped  a  second  to  brush  a 
little  kiss  across  mother's  lips,  to  the  others  she  said 
without  even  glancing  at  them:  "Oh  do  let  me  lie  down  a 
minute!     The  motion  of  that  train  made  me  sick." 

Well,  I  should  say  it  did!  I  quit  living,  and  began 
thinking  in  a  hooray,  and  so  did  every  one  else  at  our 
house.  Once  I  had  been  sick  and  queened  it  over  them 
for  a  while,  now  all  of  us  strained  ourselves  trying  to 
wait  on  Shelley;  but  she  wouldn't  have  it.  She  only 
said  she  was  tired  to  death,  to  let  her  rest,  and  she  turned 
her  face  to  the  wall  and  lay  there.  Once  she  said  she 
never  wanted  to  see  a  city  again  so  long  as  she  lived. 
When  mother  told  her  about  Laddie  and  the  Princess 
to  try  to  interest  her,  she  never  said  a  word;  I  doubted 
if  she  even  listened.  Father  and  mother  looked  at  each 
other,  when  they  thought  no  one  would  see,  and  their 
eyes  sent  big,  anxious  questions  flashing  back  and  forth. 
I  made  up  my  mind  I'd  keep  awake  that  night  and  hear 
what  they  said,  if  I  had  to  take  pins  to  bed  with  me  and 
stick  myself. 

Once  mother  said  to  Shelley  that  she  was  going  to  send 
for  Dr.  Fenner,  and  she  answered:  "All  right,  if  you  need 
him.  Don't  you  dare  for  me!  I'll  not  see  him.  All  I 
want  is  a  little  peace  and  rest." 

The  idea!  Not  one  of  us  ever  had  spoken  to  mother 
like  that  before  in  all  our  born  days.  I  held  my  breath 
to  see  what  she  would  do,  but  she  didn't  seem  to  have 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  457 

heard  it,  or  to  notice  how  rude  it  had  been.  Well,  that 
told  about  as  plain  as  anything  what  we  had  on  our 
hands.  I  wandered  around  and  now  there  was  no  trouble 
about  thinking  things.  They  came  in  such  a  jumble  I 
could  get  no  sense  from  them;  but  one  big  black  thought 
came  over,  and  over,  and  over,  and  wouldn't  be  put  away. 
It  just  stood,  stayed,  forced  you,  and  made  you  look  it 
in  the  face.  If  Shelley  weren't  stopped  quickly  she  was 
going  up  on  the  hill  with  the  little  fever  and  whooping 
cough  sisters.  There  it  was!  You  could  try  to  think 
other  things,  to  play,  to  work,  to  talk  it  down  in  the  pul- 
pit, to  sing  it  out  in  a  tree,  to  slide  down  the  haystack 
away  from  it — there  it  stayed!  And  every  glimpse  you 
had  of  Shelley  made  it  surer. 

There  was  no  trouble  about  keeping  awake  that  night; 
I  couldn't  sleep.  I  stood  at  the  window  and  looked  down 
the  Big  Hill  through  the  soft  white  moonlight,  and  thought 
about  it,  and  then  I  thought  of  mother.  I  guess  now  you 
see  what  kind  of  things  mothers  have  to  face.  All  day 
she  had  gone  around  doing  her  work,  every  few  minutes 
suggesting  some  new  thing  for  one  of  us  to  try,  or  trying 
it  herself;  all  day  she  had  talked  and  laughed,  and  when 
Sarah  Hood  came  she  told  her  she  thought  Shelley  must  be 
bilious,  that  she  had  travelled  all  night  and  was  sleeping; 
but  she  would  be  up  the  first  place  she  went,  and  then  they 
talked  all  over  creation  and  Mrs.  Hood  went  home  and 
never  remembered  that  she  hadn't  seen  Shelley.  She 
worked  Mrs.  Freshett  off  the  same  way,  but  you  could  see 
she  was  almost  too  tired  to  do  it,  so  by  night  she  was 
nearly  as  white  as  Shelley,  yet  keeping  things  going.   When 


458  LADDIE 

the  house  was  still,  she  came  into  the  room,  and  stood 
at  the  window  as  I  had,  until  father  entered,  then  she 
turned,  and  I  could  see  they  were  staring  at  each  other 
in  the  moonlight,  as  they  had  all  day. 

"She's  sick?"  asked  father,  at  last. 

"Heartsick!"  said  mother  bitterly. 

"We'd  better  have  Doc  come?" 

"She  says  she  isn't  sick,  and  she  won't  see  him." 

"She  will  if  I  put  my  foot  down." 

"Best  not,  Paul!  She'll  feel  better  soon.  She's  so 
young!     She  must  get  over  it." 

They  were  silent  for  a  long  time  and  then  father  asked 
in  a  harsh  whisper:  "Ruth,  can  she  possibly  have  brought 
us  to  shame?" 

"God  forbid!"  cried  mother.     "Let  us  pray." 

Then  those  two  people  knelt  on  each  side  of  that  bed, 
and  I  could  hear  half  the  words  they  muttered,  until  I 
was  wild  enough  to  scream.  I  wished  with  all  my  heart 
that  I  hadn't  listened.  I  had  always  known  that  it  was 
no  nice  way.  I  must  have  gone  to  sleep  after  a  while, 
but  when  I  woke  up  I  was  still  thinking  about  it,  and 
to  save  me,  I  couldn't  quit.  All  day,  wherever  I  went, 
that  question  of  father's  kept  going  over  in  my  head. 
I  thought  about  it  until  I  was  almost  crazy,  and  I  just 
couldn't  see  where  anything  about  shame  came  in. 

She  was  only  mistaken.  She  thought  he  loved  her,  and 
he  didn't.  She  never  could  have  been  so  bloomy,  so  filled 
with  song,  laughter,  and  lovely  like  she  was,  if  she  hadn't 
truly  believed  with  all  her  heart  that  he  loved  her.  Of 
course  it  would  almost  finish  her  to  give  him  up,  when  she 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  459 

felt  like  that;  and  maybe  she  did  wrong  to  let  herself 
care  so  much,  before  she  was  sure  about  him;  but  that 
would  only  be  foolish,  there  wouldn't  be  even  a  shadow  of 
shame  about  it.  Besides,  Laddie  had  done  exactly  the 
same  thing.  He  loved  the  Princess  until  it  nearly  killed 
him  when  he  thought  he  had  to  give  her  up,  and  he  loved 
her  as  hard  as  ever  he  could,  when  he  hadn't  an  idea 
whether  she  would  love  him  back,  even  a  tiny  speck;  and 
the  person  who  wasn't  foolish,  and  never  would  be,  was 
Laddie. 

The  more  I  thought,  the  worse  I  got  worked  up,  and 
I  couldn't  see  how  Shelley  was  to  blame  for  anything 
at  all.  Love  just  came  to  her,  like  it  came  to  Laddie. 
She  would  hardly  have  knelt  down  and  beseeched  the 
Lord  to  make  her  fall  in  love  with  a  man  she  scarcely 
knew,  and  when  she  couldn't  be  sure  what  he  was  going 
to  do  about  it — not  the  Lord,  the  man,  I  mean.  You 
could  see  for  yourself  she  wouldn't  do  that.  I  finished 
my  work,  and  then  I  tried  to  do  things  for  her,  and  she 
wouldn't  let  me.  Mother  told  me  to  ask  her  to  make 
Grace  Greenwood  the  dress  she  had  promised  when  I 
was  sick;  so  I  took  the  Scotch  plaid  to  her  and  reminded 
her,  and  she  pushed  me  away  and  said:  "Some  time!" 

I  even  got  Grace,  and  showed  Shelley  the  spills  on  her 
dress,  and  how  badly  she  needed  a  new  one,  but  she 
never  looked,  she  said:  "Oh  bother!  My  head  aches. 
Do  let  me  be!" 

Mother  was  listening.  I  could  see  her  standing  out- 
side the  door.  She  motioned  to  me  to  come  away,  so 
I  went  to  her  and  she  was  white  as  Shelley.     She  was 


46o  LADDIE 

sick  too,  she  couldn't  say  a  word  for  a  minute,  but  after 
a  while  she  kissed  me,  I  could  feel  the  quivers  in  her  lips, 
and  she  said  stifflike:  "Never  mind,  she'll  be  better  soon, 
then  she  will!     Run  play  now!" 

Sometimes  I  wandered  around  looking  at  things  and 
living  dully.  I  didn't  try  to  study  out  anything,  but 
I  must  have  watched  closer  than  I  knew,  for  every  single 
thing  I  saw  then,  over  that  whole  farm,  I  can  shut  my 
eyes  and  see  to-day;  everything,  from  the  old  hawk  tilting 
his  tail  to  steer  him  in  soaring,  to  a  snake  catching  field 
mice  in  the  grass,  lichens  on  the  fence,  flowers,  butter- 
flies, every  single  thing.  Mostly  I  sat  to  watch  some- 
thing that  promised  to  become  interesting,  and  before  I 
knew  it,  I  was  back  on  the  shame  question.  That's  the 
most  dreadful  word  in  the  dictionary.  There's  something 
about  it  that  makes  your  face  burn,  only  to  have  it  in 
your  mind. 

Laddie  said  he  never  had  met  any  man  who  knew  the 
origin  of  more  words  than  father.  He  could  even  tell 
every  clip  what  nationality  a  man  was  from  his  name. 
Hundreds  of  times  I  have  heard  him  say  to  stranger' 
people,  "From  your  name  you'd  be  of  Scotch  extraction," 
or  Irish,  or  whatever  it  was,  and  every  time  the  person  he 
was  talking  with  would  say,  "Yes."  Some  day  away 
out  in  the  field,  alone,  I  thought  I  would  ask  him  what 
people  first  used  the  word  "shame,"  and  just  exactly  what 
it  did  mean,  and  what  the  things  were  that  you  could  d© 
that  would  make  the  people  who  loved  you  until  they 
would  die  for  you,  ashamed  of  you. 

Thinking  about  that  and  planning  out  what  it  was  that 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  461 

I  wanted  to  know,  gave  me  another  idea.  Why  not  ask 
her?  She  was  the  only  one  who  knew  what  she  had  done 
away  there  in  the  city,  alone  among  strangers;  I  wasn't 
sure  whether  all  the  music  a  girl  could  learn  was  worth 
letting  her  take  the  chances  she  would  have  to  in  a  big 
city.  From  the  way  Laddie  and  father  hated  them,  they 
were  a  poor  place  for  men,  and  they  must  have  been  much 
worse  for  girls.  Shelley  knew,  why  not  ask  her  ?  Maybe 
I  could  coax  her  to  tell  me,  and  it  would  make  my  life 
much  easier  to  know;  and  only  think  what  was  going  on 
in  father's  and  mother's  heads  and  hearts,  when  I  felt 
that  way,  and  didn't  even  know  what  there  was  to  be 
ashamed  about.  She  wouldn't  any  more  than  slap  me; 
and  sick  as  she  was,  I  made  up  my  mind  not  to  get  angry 
at  her,  or  ever  to  tell,  if  she  did.  I'd  rather  have  her  hit 
me  when  she  was  so  sick  than  to  have  Sally  beat  me  until 
she  couldn't  strike  another  lick,  just  because  she  was 
angry.  But  I  forgave  her  that,  and  I  was  never  going 
to  think  of  it  again — only  I  did. 

Mother  kept  sending  Leon  to  the  post-office,  and  she 
met  him  at  the  gate  half  the  time  herself  and  fairly 
snatched  the  letters  from  his  hands.  Hum!  She  couldn't 
pull  the  wool  over  my  eyes.  I  knew  she  hoped  somehow, 
some  way,  there  would  be  a  big  fat  one  with  Paget,  Legal 
Adviser,  or  whatever  a  Chicago  lawyer  puts  on  his  en- 
velopes.    Jerry's  just  say:     "Attorney  at  Law." 

No  letter  ever  came  that  had  Paget  in  the  corner,  or 
anything  happened  that  did  Shelley  any  good.  Far 
otherwise!  Just  before  supper  Leon  came  from  Grove- 
ville  one  evening,  and  all  of  us  could  see  at  a  glance  that 


462  LADDIE 

he  had  been  crying  like  a  baby.  He  had  wiped  up,  and 
was  trying  to  hold  in,  but  he  was  killed,  next.  I  nearly 
said,  "Well,  for  heaven's  sake,  another!"  when  I  saw  him. 
He  slammed  down  a  big,  long  envelope,  having  printing 
on  it,  before  father,  and  glared  at  it  as  if  he  wanted  to 
tear  it  to  smithereens,  and  he  said:  "If  you  want  to 
know  why  it  looks  like  that,  I  buried  it  under  a  stone 
once;  but  I  had  to  go  back,  and  then  I  threw  it  as  far  as 
I  could  send  it,  into  Ditton's  gully,  but  after  a  while  I 
hunted  it  up  again!" 

Then  he  keeled  over  on  the  couch  mother  keeps  for  her 
in  the  dining-room,  and  sobbed  until  he  looked  like  he'd 
come  apart. 

Of  course  all  of  us  knew  exactly  what  that  letter  was 
from  the  way  he  acted.  Mother  had  told  him,  time 
and  again,  not  to  set  his  heart  so;  father  had,  too,  and 
Laddie,  and  every  one  of  us,  but  that  little  half-Arab, 
half-Kentucky  mare  was  the  worst  temptation  a  man 
who  loved  horses  could  possibly  have;  and  while  father 
and  mother  stopped  at  good  work  horses,  and  matched 
roadsters  for  the  carriage,  they  managed  to  prize  and 
tend  them  so  that  every  one  of  us  had  been  born  horse- 
crazy,  and  we  had  been  allowed  to  ride,  care  for,  and 
taught  to  love  horses  all  our  lives.  Treat  a  horse  ugly, 
and  we'd  have  gone  on  the  thrashing  floor  ourselves. 

Father  laid  the  letter  face  down,  his  hand  on  it,  and 
shook  his  head.  "This  is  too  bad!"  he  said.  "It's  a 
burning  shame,  but  the  money,  the  exact  amount,  was 
taken  from  a  farmer  in  Medina  County,  Ohio,  by  a  trav- 
eller he  sheltered  a  few  days,  because  he  complained  of  a 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  463 

bad  foot.  The  description  of  the  man  who  robbed  us  is 
perfect.  The  money  was  from  the  sale  of  some  prize 
cattle.     It  will  have  to  be  returned." 

"Just  let  me  see  the  letter  a  minute,"  said  Laddie. 

He  read  it  over  thoughtfully.  He  was  long  enough 
about  it  to  have  gone  over  it  three  times;  then  he  looked 
at  Leon,  and  his  forehead  creased  in  a  deep  frown.  The 
tears  slid  down  mother's  cheeks,  but  she  didn't  know  it, 
or  else  she'd  have  wiped  them  away.  She  was  never  mussy 
about  the  least  little  thing. 

"Father!"  she  said.     "Father !" 

That  was  as  far  as  she  could  go. 

"The  man  must  have  his  money,"  said  father,  "but 
we'll  look  into  this — - — -" 

He  pushed  back  the  plates  and  tablecloth,  and  cleared 
his  end  of  the  table.  Mother  never  budged  to  stack  the 
plates,  or  straighten  the  cloth  so  it  wouldn't  be  wrinkled. 
Then  father  brought  his  big  account  book  from  the  black 
walnut  chest  in  our  room,  some  little  books,  and  papers, 
sharpened  a  pencil  and  began  going  up  and  down  the 
columns  and  picking  out  figures  here  and  there  that  he  set 
on  a  piece  of  paper.  I  never  had  seen  him  look  either  old 
or  tired  before;  but  he  did  then.  Mother  noticed  it  too, 
for  her  lips  tightened,  she  lifted  her  head,  wiped  her  eyes, 
and  pretended  that  she  felt  better.  Laddie  said  some- 
thing about  doing  the  feeding,  and  slipped  out.  Just 
then  Shelley  came  into  the  room,  stopped,  and  looked 
questioningly  at  us.  Her  eyes  opened  wide,  and  she 
stared   hard    at   Leon. 

"Why  what  ails  him?"  she  asked  mother. 


464  LADDIE 

"You  remember  what  I  wrote  you  about  a  man  who 
robbed  us,  and  the  money  Leon  was  to  have,  provided 
no  owner  was  found  in  a  reasonable  time;  and  the  horse 
the  boy  had  planned  to  buy,  and  how  he  had  been  going 
to  Pryors' — Oh,  I  think  he's  slipped  over  there  once  a 
day,  and  often  three  times,  all  this  spring!  Mr.  Pryor 
encouraged  him,  let  him  take  his  older  horses  to  practise 
on,  even  went  out  and  taught  him  cross-country  riding 
himself " 

"I  remember!"  said  Shelley. 

Leon  sobbed  out  loud.  Shelley  crossed  the  room 
swiftly,  dropped  beside  him  and  whispered  something  in 
his  ear.  Quick  as  a  shot  his  arm  reached  out  and  went 
around  her.  She  hid  her  head  deep  in  the  pillow  beside 
him,  and  they  went  to  pieces  together.  Clear  to  pieces! 
Pretty  soon  father  had  to  take  off  his  glasses  and  wipe 
them  so  he  could  see  the  figures.  Mother  took  one  long 
look  at  him,  a  short  one  at  Leon  and  Shelley,  then  she 
arose,  her  voice  as  even  and  smooth,  and  she  said :  "While 
you  figure,  father,  I'll  see  about  supper.  I  have  tried  to 
plan  an  extra  good  one  this  evening." 

She  left  the  room.  Now,  I  guess  you  know  about  all 
I  can  tell  you  of  mother!  I  can't  see  that  there's  a  thing 
left.  That  was  the  kind  of  a  soldier  she  was.  Talk  about 
Crusaders,  and  a  good  fight!  All  the  blood  of  battle  in 
our  family  wasn't  on  father's  side,  not  by  any  means! 
The  Dutch  could  fight  too ! 

Father's  pencil  scraped  a  little,  a  bee  that  had  slipped 
in  buzzed  over  the  apple  butter,  while  the  clock  ticked 
as  if  it  used  a  hammer.     It  was  so  loud  one  wanted  to 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  465 

pitch  it  from  the  window.  May  and  I  sat  still  as  mice 
when  the  cat  is  near.  Candace  couldn't  keep  away 
from  the  kitchen  door  to  save  her,  and  where  mother 
went  I  hadn't  an  idea,  but  she  wasn't  getting  an  extra 
good  supper.  Shelley  and  Leon  were  quieter  now.  May 
nudged  me,  and  I  saw  that  his  arm  around  her  was  grip- 
ping her  tight,  while  her  hand  on  his  head  was  patting 
him  and  fingering  his  hair. 

Ca-lumph!  Ca-lumph!  came  the  funniest  sound  right 
on  the  stone  walk  leading  to  the  east  door,  then  a  shrill 
whicker  that  made  father  drop  his  pencil.  Leon  was 
on  his  feet,  Shelley  beside  him,  while  at  the  door  stood 
Laddie  grinning  as  if  his  face  would  split,  and  with  her 
forefeet  on  the  step  and  her  nose  in  the  room,  stood  the 
prettiest,  the  very  prettiest  horse  I  ever  saw.  She  was 
sticking  her  nose  toward  Leon,  whinnying  softly,  as  she 
lifted  one  foot,  and  if  Laddie  hadn't  backed  her,  she  would 
have  walked  right  into  the  dining-room. 

"Come  on,  Weiscope,  she's  yours!"  said  Laddie.  "Take 
her  to  the  barn,  and  put  her  in  one  of  the  cow  stalls,  until 
we  fix  a  place  for  her." 

Leon  crossed  the  room,  but  he  never  touched  the 
horse.     He  threw  his  arms  around  Laddie's  neck. 

"Son!  Son!  Haven't  you  let  your  feelings  run  away 
with  you?     What  does  this  mean?"  asked  father  sternly. 

"There's  nothing  remarkable  in  a  big  six-footer  like 
me  buying  a  horse,"  said  Laddie.  "I  expect  to  purchase 
a  number  soon,  and  without  a  cent  to  pay,  in  the  bargain. 
I  contracted  to  give  five  hundred  dollars  for  this  mare. 
She  is  worth  more;  but  that  should  be  satisfactory  all 


466  LADDIE 

around.  I  am  going  to  earn  it  by  putting  five  of  Mr. 
Pryor's  fancy,  pedigreed  horses  in  shape  for  market, 
taking  them  personally,  and  selling  them  to  men  fit  to 
own  and  handle  real  horses.  I  get  one  hundred  each, 
and  my  expenses  for  the  job.  I'll  have  as  much  fun  doing 
it  as  I  ever  had  at  anything.  It  suits  me  far  better  than 
plowing,  even." 

Mother  entered  the  room  at  a  sweep,  and  pushed  Leon 
aside. 

"Oh  you  man  of  my  heart!"  she  cried.  "You  man 
after  my  own  heart ! " 

Laddie  bent  and  kissed  her,  holding  her  tight  as  he 
looked  over  her  head  at  father. 

"It's  all  right,  of  course?"  he  said. 

"I  never  have  known  of  anything  quite  so  altogether 
right,"  said  father.  "Thank  you,  lad,  and  God  bless 
you!" 

He  took  Laddie's  hand,  and  almost  lifted  him  from  the 
floor,  then  he  wiped  his  glasses,  gathered  up  his  books 
with  a  big,  deep  breath  of  relief,  and  went  into  his  room. 
If  the  others  had  looked  to  see  why  he  was  gone  so  long, 
they  would  have  seen  him  on  his  knees  beside  his  bed 
thanking  God,  as  usual.  Leon  couldn't  have  come  closer 
than  when  he  said,  "The  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever,"  about  father. 

Leon  had  his  arms  around  the  neck  of  his  horse  now, 
and  he  was  kissing  her,  patting  her,  and  explaining  to 
Shelley  just  why  no  other  horse  was  like  her.  He  was 
pouring  out  a  jumble  all  about  the  oasis  of  the  desert, 
the  tent  dwellers,  quoting  lines  from  "The   Arab  to   His 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  467 

Horse,"  bluegrass,  and  gentleness  combined  with  spirit, 
while  Shelley  had  its  head  between  her  hands,  stroking 
it  and  saying,  "Yes,"  to  every  word  Leon  told  her.  Then 
he  said:  "Just  hop  on  her  back  from  that  top  step  and 
ride  her  to  the  barn,  if  you  want  to  see  the  motion  she 
has." 

Shelley  said:  "Has  a  woman  ever  been  on  her  back? 
Won't  she  shy  at  my  skirts?" 

"No,"  explained  Leon.  "I've  been  training  her  with 
a  horse  blanket  pinned  around  me,  so  Susie  could  ride 
her!     She'll  be  all  right." 

So  Shelley  mounted,  and  the  horse  turned  her  head, 
and  tried  to  rub  against  her,  as  she  walked  away,  tame 
as  a  sheep.  I  wondered  if  she  could  be  too  gentle.  If 
she  went  "like  the  wind,"  as  Leon  said,  it  didn't  show 
then.  I  was  almost  crazy  to  go  along,  and  maybe  Leon 
would  let  me  ride  a  little  while;  but  I  had  a  question  that 
it  would  help  me  to  know  the  answer  and  I  wanted  to 
ask  father  before  I  forgot;  so  I  waited  until  he  came  out. 
When  he  sat  down,  smiled  at  me  and  said,  "Well,  is  the 
girl  happy  for  brother?"  I  knew  it  was  a  good  time,  and 
I  could  ask  anything  I  chose,  so  I  sat  on  his  knee  and 
said:  "Father,  when  you  pray  for  anything  that  it's  all 
perfectly  right  for  you  to  have,  does  God  come  down  from 
heaven  and  do  it  Llimself,  or  does  He  send  a  man  like 
Laddie  to  do  it  for  him?" 

Father  hugged  me  tight,  smiling  the  happiest. 

"Why,  you  have  the  whole  thing  right  there  in  a  nut- 
shell, Little  Sister,"  he  said.  "You  see  it's  like  this:  the 
Book  tells  us  most  distinctly  that  'God  is  love.'     Now 


468  LADDIE 

it  was  love  that  sent  Laddie  to  bind  himself  for  a  long, 
tedious  job,  to  give  Leon  his  horse,  wasn't  it?" 

"Of  course!"  I  said.  "He  wouldn't  have  been  likely 
to  do  it  if  he  hated  him.     It  was  love,  of  course ! " 

"Then  it  was  God,"  said  father,  "because  'God  is 
love.'     They  are  one  and  the  same  thing." 

Then  he  kissed  me,  and  that  was  settled.  So  I  wondered 
when  you  longed  for  anything  so  hard  you  really  felt 
it  was  worth  bothering  God  about,  whether  the  quickest 
way  to  get  it  was  to  ask  Him  for  it,  or  to  try  to  put  a  lot 
of  love  into  the  heart  of  some  person  who  could  do  what 
you  wanted.  I  decided  it  all  went  back  to  God  though, 
for  most  of  the  time  probably  we  wouldn't  know  who  the 
right  one  was  to  try  to  awaken  love  in.  I  was  mighty 
sure  none  of  us  ever  dreamed  Laddie  could  walk  over  to 
Pryors',  and  come  back  with  that  horse,  in  a  way  per- 
fectly satisfactory  to  every  one,  slick  as  an  eel. 

You  should  have  seen  Leon  following  around  after 
Laddie,  trying  to  do  things  for  him,  taking  on  his  work 
to  give  him  more  time  with  the  horses,  getting  up  early 
to  finish  his  own  stunts,  so  he  could  go  over  to  Pryors' 
and  help.  Mother  said  it  had  done  more  to  make  a 
man  of  him  than  anything  that  ever  happened.  It 
helped  Shelley,  too.  Something  seemed  to  break  in  her, 
when  she  cried  so  with  Leon,  because  he  was  in  trouble. 
Then  he  was  so  crazy  to  show  off  his  horse  he  had  Shelley 
ride  up  and  down  the  lane,  while  he  ran  along  and  led,  so 
she  got  a  lot  of  exercise,  and  it  made  her  good  and  hungry. 
If  you  don't  think  by  this  time  that  my  mother  was  the 
beatenest  woman  alive,  I'll  prove  it  to  you.     When  the 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  469 

supper  bell  rang  there  were  strawberry  preserves  instead 
of  the  apple  butter,  biscuit,  fried  chicken,  and  mashed 
potatoes.  She  must  have  slapped  those  chickens  into  the 
skillet  before  they  knew  their  heads  were  off.  When 
Shelley  came  to  the  table,  for  the  first  time  since  she'd 
been  home,  had  pink  in  her  cheeks,  and  talked  some,  and 
ate  too,  mother  forgot  her  own  supper.  She  fumbled 
over  her  plate,  but  scarcely  touched  even  the  livers,  and 
those  delicious  little  kidneys  in  the  tailpiece  like  Leon  and 
I  had  at  Sally's  wedding.  When  we  finished,  and  it  was 
time  for  her  to  give  the  signal  to  arise,  no  one  had  asked 
to  be  excused,  she  said:  "Let  us  have  a  word  with  the 
Most  High."  Then  she  bowed  her  head,  so  all  of  us  did 
too.  "O  Lord,  we  praise  Thee  for  all  Thy  tender  mercies, 
and  all  Thy  loving  kindness.     Amen!" 

Of  course  father  always  asked  the  blessing  to  begin 
with,  and  mostly  it  was  the  same  one,  and  that  was  all 
at  meal  time,  but  this  was  a  little  extra  that  mother 
couldn't  even  wait  until  night  to  tell  the  Almighty,  she 
was  so  pleased  with  Him.  Maybe  I  haven't  told  every- 
thing about  her,  after  all.  Father  must  have  thought 
that  was  lovely  of  her;  he  surely  felt  as  happy  as  she  did, 
to  see  Shelley  better,  for  he  hugged  and  kissed  her  over 
and  over,  finishing  at  her  neck  like  he  always  did,  and  then 
I  be-hanged,  if  he  didn't  hug  and  kiss  every  last  one  of  us 
— tight,  even  the  boys.  Shelley  he  held  long  and  close, 
and  patted  her  a  little  when  he  let  her  go.  It  made  me 
wonder  if  the  rest  of  us  didn't  get  ours,  so  he'd  have  a 
chance  at  her  without  her  noticing  it.  One  thing  was 
perfectly  clear.     If  shame  came  to  us,  they  were  going 


470  LADDIE 

to  love  her,  and  stick  tight  to  her  right  straight  through 
it. 

Now  that  everything  was  cleared  up  so,  Shelley  seemed 
a  little  more  like  herself  every  day,  although  it  was  bad 
enough  yet;  I  thought  I  might  as  well  hurry  up  the  end  a 
little,  and  stop  the  trouble  completely,  so  I  began  watch- 
ing for  a  chance  to  ask  her.  But  I  wanted  to  get  her  away 
off  alone,  so  no  one  would  see  if  she  slapped  me.  I  didn't 
know  how  long  I'd  have  to  wait.  I  tried  coaxing  her  to 
the  orchard  to  see  a  bluebird's  nest,  but  she  asked  if  blue- 
birds were  building  any  different  that  year,  and  I  had  to 
admit  they  were  not.  Then  I  tried  the  blue-eyed  Mary 
bed,  but  she  said  she  supposed  it  was  still  under  the  cling 
peach  tree,  and  the  flower,  two  white  petals  up,  two  blue 
down,  and  so  it  was.  Just  as  I  was  beginning  to  think  I'd 
have  to  take  that  to  the  Lord  in  prayer,  I  got  my  chance 
by  accident. 

May  and  Candace  were  forever  going  snake  hunting. 
You  would  think  any  one  with  common  sense  would 
leave  them  alone  and  be  glad  of  the  chance,  but  no  indeed! 
They  went  nearly  every  day  as  soon  as  the  noon  work 
was  finishe'd,  and  stayed  until  time  to  get  supper.  They 
did  have  heaps  of  fun  and  wild  excitement.  May  was 
gentle,  and  tender  with  everything  else  on  earth;  so  I 
'spose  she  had  a  right  to  bruise  the  serpent  with  her  heel 
— really  she  used  sticks  and  stones — if  she  wanted  to. 
I  asked  her  how  she  could,  and  she  .said  there  was  a  place 
in  the  Bible  that  told  how  a  snake  coaxed  Eve  to  eat  an 
apple,  that  the  Lord  had  told  her  she  mustn't  touch;  and 
so  she  got  us  into  most  of  the  trouble  there  was  in  the 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  471 

world.  May  said  it  was  all  the  fault  of  the  snake  to  begin 
with,  and  she  meant  to  pay  up  every  one  she  could  find, 
because  she  had  none  of  the  apple,  and  lots  of  the  trouble. 
Candace  cried  so  much  because  Frederick  Swartz  had 
been  laid  in  the  tomb,  that  mother  was  pleased  to  have 
her  cheer  up,  even  enough  to  go  snake  hunting. 

That  afternoon  Mehitabel  Heasty  had  come  to  visit 
May,  so  she  went  along,  and  I  followed.  They  poked 
around  the  driftwood  at  the  floodgate  behind  the  barn, 
and  were  giving  up  the  place.  Candace  had  crossed 
the  creek  and  was  coming  back,  and  May  had  started, 
when  she  saw  a  tiny  little  one  and  chased  it.  We  didn't 
know  then  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  have  snakes  to  eat 
moles,  field  mice,  and  other  pests  that  bother  your  crops; 
the  Bible  had  no  mercy  on  them  at  all,  so  we  were  not 
saving  our  snakes;  and  anyway  we  had  more  than  we 
needed,  while  some  of  them  were  too  big  to  be  safe  to  keep, 
and  a  few  poison  as  could  be.  May  began  to  bruise  the 
serpent,  when  out  of  the  driftwood  where  they  hadn't 
found  anything  came  its  mammy,  a  great  big  blacksnake, 
maddest  you  ever  saw,  with  its  pappy  right  after  her,  mad 
as  ever  too.  Candace  screamed  at  May  to  look  behind 
her,  but  May  was  busy  with  the  snake  and  didn't  look 
quick  enough,  so  the  old  mammy  struck  right  in  her  back. 
She  just  caught  in  the  hem  of  May's  skirt,  and  her  teeth 
stuck  in  the  goods — you  know  how  a  snake's  teeth  turn 
back — so  she  couldn't  let  go.  May  took  one  look  and 
raced  down  the  bank  to  the  crossing,  through  the  water, 
and  toward  us,  with  the  snake  dragging  and  twisting,  and 
trying  her  best  to  get  away.     May  was  screaming  at  every 


472  LADDIE 

jump  for  Candace,  and  Mehitabel  was  flying  up  and  down 
crying:  "Oh  there's  snakes  in  my  shoes!  There's  snakes 
in  my  shoes!" 

That  was  a  fair  sample  of  how  much  sense  a  Heasty  ever 
had.  It  took  all  Mehitabel's  shoes  could  do  to  hold  her 
feet,  for  after  one  went  barefoot  all  week,  and  never  put 
on  shoes  except  on  Sunday  or  for  a  visit,  the  feet  became 
so  spread  out,  shoes  had  all  they  could  do  to  manage  them, 
and  then  mostly  they  pinched  until  they  made  one  squirm. 
But  she  jumped  and  said  that,  while  May  ran  and 
screamed,  and  Candace  gripped  her  big  hickory  stick  and 
told  May  to  stand  still.  Then  she  bruised  that  serpent 
with  her  whole  foot,  for  she  stood  on  it,  and  swatted  it 
until  she  broke  its  neck.  Then  she  turned  ready  for  the 
other  one,  but  when  it  saw  what  happened  to  its  mate,  it 
decided  to  go  back.  Even  snakes,  it  doesn't  seem  right 
to  break  up  families  like  that;  so  by  the  time  Candace  got 
the  mammy  killed,  loose  from  May's  hem,  and  stretched 
out  with  the  back  up,  so  she  wouldn't  make  it  rain,  when 
Candace  wasn't  sure  that  father  wanted  rain,  I  had  enough. 
I  went  down  the  creek  until  I  was  below  the  orchard,  then 
I  crossed,  passed  the  cowslip  bed,  climbed  the  hill  and 
fence,  and  stopped  to  think  what  I  would  do  first;  and 
there  only  a  few  feet  away  was  Shelley.  She  was  sitting 
in  the  shade,  her  knees  drawn  up,  her  hands  clasped 
around  them,  staring  straight  before  her  across  the 
meadow  at  nothing  in  particular,  that  I  could  see.  She 
jumped  as  if  I  had  been  a  snake  when  she  saw  me,  then  she 
said,  "Oh,  is  it  you?"  like  she  was  half  glad  of  it.  My 
chance  had  come. 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  473 

I  went  to  her,  sat  close  beside  her  and  tried  snuggling 
up  a  little.  It  worked.  She  put  her  arm  around  me, 
drew  me  tight,  rubbed  her  cheek  against  my  head  and 
we  sat  there.  I  was  wondering  how  in  the  world  I  could 
ask  her,  and  not  get  slapped.  I  was  growing  most  too 
big  for  that  slapping  business,  anyway.  We  sat  there;  I 
was  looking  across  the  meadow  as  she  did,  only  I  was 
watching  everything  that  went  on,  so  when  I  saw  a  gros- 
beak fly  from  the  wild  grape  where  Shelley  had  put  the 
crock  for  sap,  it  made  me  think  of  her  hair.  She  used  to 
like  to  have  me  play  with  it  so  well,  she'd  give  me  pennies 
if  I  did.  I  got  up,  and  began  pulling  out  her  pins  care- 
fully. I  knew  I  was  getting  a  start  because  right  away 
she  put  up  her  hand  to  help  me. 

"I  can  get  them,"  I  said  just  as  flannel-mouthed  as 
ever  I  could,  like  all  of  us  talked  to  her  now,  so  I  got 
every  one  and  never  pulled  a  mite.  When  I  reached  over 
her  shoulder  to  drop  them  in  her  lap,  being  so  close  I 
kissed  her  cheek.  Then  I  shook  down  her  hair,  spread 
it  out,  lifted  it,  parted  it,  and  held  up  strands  to  let  the 
air  on  her  scalp.  She  shivered  and  said:  "Mercy  child, 
how  good  that  does  feel!  My  head  has  ached  lately 
until  it's  a  wonder  there's  a  hair  left  on  it." 

So  I  was  pleasing  her.  I  never  did  handle  hair  s© 
carefully.  I  tried  every  single  thing  it  feels  good  to  you 
to  have  done  with  your  hair,  rubbed  her  head  gently, 
and  to  cheer  her  up  I  told  her  about  May  and  the  snake, 
and  what  fool  Mehitabel  had  said,  and  she  couldn't 
help  laughing;  so  I  had  her  feeling  about  as  good  as  she 
could,  for  the  way  she  actually  felt,  but  still  I  didn't 


474  LADDIE 

really  get  ahead.  Come  right  to  the  place  to  do  it,  that 
was  no  very  easy  question  to  ask  a  person,  when  you 
wouldn't  hurt  their  feelings  for  anything;  I  was  beginning 
to  wonder  if  I  would  lose  my  chance,  when  all  at  once 
a  way  I  could  manage  popped  into  my  mind. 

"Shelley,"  I  said,  "they  told  you  about  Laddie  and 
the  Princess,  didn't  they?" 

Iknewtheyhad,butIhadto  make  a  beginning  some  way. 

"Yes,"  she  said.  "I'm  glad  of  it!  I  think  she's 
pretty  as  a  picture,  and  nice  as  she  looks.  Laddie  may 
have  to  hump  himself  to  support  her,  but  if  he  can't 
get  her  as  fine  clothes  as  she  has,  her  folks  can  help  him. 
They  seem  to  have  plenty,  and  she's  their  only  child." 

"They're  going  to.  I  heard  Mr.  Pryor  ask  Laddie  if 
he'd  be  so  unkind  as  to  object  to  them  having  the  pleas- 
ure of  giving  her  things." 

"Well,  the  greenhorn  didn't  say  he  would!" 

"No.  He  didn't  want  to  put  his  nose  to  the  grindstone 
quite  that  close.     He  said  it  was  between  them." 

"I  should  think  so!" 

"Shelley,  there's  a  question  I've  been  wanting  to  ask 
some  one  for  quite  a  while." 

"What?" 

"Why,  this f  You  know,  Laddie  was  in  love  with  the 
Princess,  like  you  are  when  you  want  to  marry  folks, 
for  a  long,  long  time,  before  he  could  be  sure  whether  she 
loved  him  back." 

"Yes." 

"Well,  now,  'spose  she  never  had  loved  him,  would  he 
have  had  anything  to  be  ashamed  of?" 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  475 

"I  can't  see  that  he  would.  Some  one  must  start  a 
courtship,  or  there  would  be  no  marrying,  and  it's  con- 
ceded to  be  the  place  of  the  man.  No.  He  might  be 
disappointed,  or  dreadfully  hurt,  but  there  would  be  no 
shame  about  it." 

"Well,  then,  suppose  she  loved  him,  and  wanted  to 
marry  him,  and  he  hadn't  loved  her,  or  wanted  her,  would 
she  have  had  anything  to  be  ashamed  of?" 

"I  don't  think  so!  If  she  was  attracted  by  him,  and 
thought  she  would  like  him,  she  would  have  a  right  to  go 
to  a  certain  extent,  to  find  out  if  he  cared  for  her,  and  if 
he  didn't,  why,  she'd  just  have  to  give  him  up.  But  any 
sensible  girl  waits  for  a  man  to  make  the  advances,  and 
plenty  of  them,  before  she  allows  herself  even  to  dream  of 
loving  him,  or  at  least,  I  would." 

Now  I  was  getting  somewhere! 

"Of  course  you  would!"  I  said.  "That  would  be  the 
way  mother  would  do,  wouldn't  it?" 

"Surely!" 

"If  that  Paget  man  you  used  to  write  about  had  seemed 
to  be  just  what  you  liked,  you'd  have  waited  to  know  if  he 
wanted  you,  before  you  loved  him,  wouldn't  you?" 

"  I  certainly  would ! "  answered  Shelley.  "Or  at  least,  I'd 
have  waited  until  I  thought  sure  as  death,  I  knew.  It  seems 
that  sometimes  you  can  be  fooled  about  those  things." 

"  But  if  you  thought  sure  you  knew,  and  then  found 
out  you  had  been  mistaken,  you  wouldn't  have  anything 
to  be  ashamed  of,  would  you?" 

"Not-on-your-life-I-wouldn't!"  cried  Shelley,  hammer- 
ing each  word  into  her  right  knee  with  her  doubled  fist. 


4;6  LADDIE 

"What  are  you  driving  at,  Blatherskite?  What  have 
you  got  into  your  head?" 

"Oh  just  studying  about  things,"  I  said,  which  was 
exactly  the  truth.  "Sally  getting  married  last  fall,  and 
Laddie  going  to  this,  just  started  me  to  wondering." 

Fooled  her,  too! 

"Oh  well,  there's  no  harm  done,"  she  said.  "The 
sooner  you  get  these  matters  straightened  out,  the  better 
able  you  will  be  to  take  care  of  yourself.  If  you  ever 
go  to  a  city,  you'll  find  out  that  a  girl  needs  considerable 
care  taken  of  her." 

"You  could  look  out  for  yourself,  Shelley?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know  as  I  made  such  a  glorious  fist  of 
it,"  she  said,  "but  at  least,  as  you  say,  I've  nothing  to  be 
ashamed  of!" 

I  almost  hugged  her  head  off". 

"Of  course  you  haven't!"  I  cried.  "Of  course  you 
wouldn't  have!" 

I  just  kissed  her  over  and  over  for  joy;  I  was  so  glad 
my  heart  hurt  for  father  and  mother.  Shame  had  not 
come  to  them! 

"Now,  I  guess  I'll  run  to  the  house  and  get  a  comb," 
I  told  her. 

"Go  on,"  said  Shelley.     "I  know  you  are  tired." 

"I'm  not  in  the  least,"  I  said.  "Don't  you  remember 
I  always  use  a  comb  when  I  fuss  with  your  hair?" 

"It  is  better,"  said  Shelley.     "Go  get  one." 

As  I  got  up  to  start  I  took  a  last  look  at  her,  and  there 
was  something  in  her  face  that  I  couldn't  bear.  I  knek 
beside  her,  and  put  both  arms  around  her  neck. 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  477 

"Shelley,  it's  a  secret,"  I  said  in  a  breathless  half  whis- 
per. "It's  a  great,  big  secret,  but  I'm  going  to  tell  you. 
Twice  now  I've  had  a  powerful  prayer  all  ready  to  try. 
It's  the  kind  where  you  go  to  the  barn,  all  alone,  stand 
on  that  top  beam  below  the  highest  window  and  look 
toward  the  east.  You  keep  perfectly  still,  and  just  think 
with  all  your  might,  and  you  look  away  over  where  Jesus 
used  to  be,  and  when  the  right  feeling  comes,  you  pray 
that  prayer  as  if  He  stood  before  you,  and  it  will  come 
true.  I  know  it  will  come  true.  The  reason  I  know  is 
because  twice  now  I've  been  almost  ready  to  try  it,  and 
what  I  intended  to  ask  for  happened  before  I  had  time; 
so  I've  saved  that  prayer;  but  Shelley,  shall  I  pray  it 
about  the  Paget  man,  for  you  ? " 

She  gripped  me,  and  she  shook  until  she  was  all  twisted 
up;  you  could  hear  her  teeth  click,  she  chilled  so.  The 
tears  just  gushed,  and  she  pulled  me  up  close  and  whis- 
pered right  in  my  ear:     "Yes!" 

It  was  only  pretend  about  the  comb;  what  I  really 
wanted  was  to  get  to  father  and  mother  quick.  I  knew 
he  was  at  the  barn  and  he  was  going  to  be  too  happy  for 
words  in  a  minute.  But  as  I  went  up  the  lane,  I  wasn't 
sure  whether  I'd  rather  pray  about  that  Paget  man  or 
bruise  him  with  my  heel  like  a  serpent.  The  only  way 
I  could  fix  it  was  to  remember  if  Shelley  loved  him  so, 
he  must  be  mighty  nice.  Father  was  in  the  wagon  shovel- 
ling corn  from  it  to  a  platform  where  it  would  be  handy 
to  feed  the  pigs,  so  I  ran  and  called  him,  and  put  one  foot 
on  a  hub  and  raised  my  hands.  He  pulled  me  up  and 
when  he  saw  how  important  it  was,  he  sat  on  the  edge 


478  LADDIE 

of  the  bed,  so  I  told  him:  "Father,  you  haven \  got  a 
thing  in  the  world  to  be  ashamed  of  about  Shelley." 

"Praise  the  Lord!"  said  father  like  I  knew  he  would, 
but  you  should  have  seen  his  face.     "Tell  me  about  it ! " 

I  told  him  and  he  said:  "Well,  I  don't  know  but  this 
is  the  gladdest  hour  of  my  life.  Go  straight  and  repeat 
to  your  mother  exactly  what  you've  said  to  me.  Take 
her  away  all  alone,  and  then  forget  about  it,  you  little 
blessing." 

"Father,  have  you  got  too  many  children?" 

"No!"  he  said.  "I  wish  I  had  a  dozen  more,  if  they'd 
be  like  you." 

When  I  went  up  the  lane  I  was  so  puffed  up  with  im- 
portance I  felt  too  dignified  to  run.  I  strutted  like  our 
biggest  turkey  gobbler.  The  only  reason  you  couldn't 
hear  my  wings  scrape,  was  because  through  mistake  they 
grew  on  the  turkey.  If  I'd  had  them,  I  would  have 
dragged  them  sure,  and  cried  "Ge-hobble-hobble!"  at 
every  step. 

I  took  mother  away  alone  and  told  her,  and  she  asked 
many  more  questions  than  father,  but  she  was  even 
gladder  than  he.  She  almost  hugged  the  breath  out  of 
me.  Sometimes  I  get  things  right,  anyway!  Then  I  took 
the  comb  and  ran  back  to  Shelley. 

"I  thought  you'd  forgotten  me,"  she  said. 

She  had  wiped  up  and  was  looking  better.  If  ever 
I  combed  carefully  I  did  then.  Just  when  I  had  all  the 
tangles  out,  there  came  mother.  She  had  not  walked 
that  far  in  a  long  time.  I  thought  maybe  she  could 
comfort  Shelley,  so  I  laid  the  comb  in  her  lap  and  went 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  479 

to  see  how  the  snake  hunters  were  coming  on.  It  must 
be  all  right,  when  the  Bible  says  so,  but  the  African 
Jungle  will  do  for  me,  and  a  popgun  is  not  going  to  scatter 
families.  I  never  felt  so  strongly  about  breaking  home 
ties  in  my  life  as  I  did  then.  There  was  nothing  worse. 
It  was  not  where  I  wanted  to  be,  so  I  thought  I'd  go  back 
to  the  barn,  and  hang  around  father,  hoping  maybe  he'd 
brag  on  me  some  more.  Going  up  the  lane  I  saw  a  wagon 
passing  with  the  biggest  box  I  ever  had  seen,  and  I  ran 
to  the  gate  to  watch  where  it  went.  It  stopped  at  our 
house  and  Frank  came  toward  me  as  I  hurried  up  the 
road. 

"Where  are  the  folks?"  he  asked,  without  paying  the 
least  attention  to  my  asking  him  over  and  over  what  was 
in  the  box. 

"May  and  Candace  are  killing  every  snake  in  the  drift- 
wood behind  the  barn,  Shelley  and  mother  are  down  in  the 
orchard,  and  father  and  the  boys  are  hauling  corn." 

"Go  tell  the  boys  to  come  quickly  and  keep  quiet,"  he 
said.     "But  don't  let  any  one  else  know  I'm  here." 

That  was  so  exciting  I  almost  fell  over  my  feet  run- 
ning, and  all  three  of  them  came  quite  as  fast.  I  stood 
back  and  watched,  and  I  just  danced  a  steady  hop  from 
one  foot  to  the  other  while  those  men  got  the  big  box  off 
the  wagon  and  opened  it.  On  the  side  I  spelled  Piano, 
so  of  course  it  was  for  Shelley.  It  was  so  heavy  it  took 
all  six  of  them,  father  and  the  three  boys,  the  driver  and 
another  very  stylish  looking  man  to  carry  it.  They  put 
it  in  the  parlour,  screwed  a  leg  on  each  corner,  and  a  queer 
harp  in  the  middle,  then  they  lifted  it  up  and  set  it  on  its 


480  LADDIE 

feet,  under  the  whatnot,  and  it  seemed  as  if  it  filled  half 
the  room.  Then  Frank  spread  a  beauteous  wine  coloured 
cover  all  embroidered  in  pink  roses  with  green  leaves  over 
it,  and  the  stylish  man  opened  a  lid,  sat  down  and  spread 
out  his  hands.  Frank  said:  "Soft  pedal!  Mighty 
soft!"  So  he  smothered  it  down,  and  tried  only  enough 
to  find  that  it  had  not  been  hurt  coming,  and  then  he 
went  away  on  the  wagon.  Father  and  the  boys  gathered 
up  every  scrap,  swept  the  walk,  and  put  all  the  things  they 
had  used  back  where  they  got  them,  like  we  always  did. 

Then  Frank  took  a  card  from  his  pocket  and  tied  it  to 
the  music  rack,  and  it  read:  "For  Shelley,  from  her 
brothers  in  fact,  and  in  law.'*  To  a  corner  of  the  cover 
he  pinned  another  card  that  read:     "From  Peter." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  father. 

"That's  from  Peter,"  said  Frank.  "Peter  is  great  on 
finishing  touches.  He  had  to  outdo  the  rest  of  us  that  much 
or  bust.     Fact  is,  none  of  us  thought  of  a  cover  except  him." 

"How  about  this?"  asked  father,  staring  at  it  as  if  it 
were  an  animal  that  would  bite. 

"Well,"  said  Frank,  "it  was  apparent  that  practising 
her  fingers  to  the  bone  wouldn't  do  Shelley  much  good 
unless  she  could  keep  it  up  in  summer,  and  you  and  mother 
always  have  done  so  much  for  the  rest  of  us,  and  now 
mother  isn't  so  strong  and  the  expenses  go  on  the  same 
with  these  youngsters;  we  knew  you  were  figuring  on 
it,  but  we  beat  you.  Put  yours  in  the  bank,  and  try 
the  feel  of  a  surplus  once  more.  Haven't  had  much 
lately,  have  you,  father?" 

"Well,  not  to  speak  of,"  said  father. 


THE  HOMING  PIGEON  481 

"Now  let's  shut  everything  up,  ring  the  bell  to  call  them, 
and  get  Shelley  in  here  and  surprise  her." 

"She's  not  very  well,"  said  father.  "Mother  thinks 
she  worked  too  hard." 

"She's  all  right  now,  father,"  I  said.  "She  is  getting 
pink  again  and  rounder,  and  this  will  fix  her  grand." 

Wouldn't  it  though!  There  wasn't  one  anywhere, 
short  of  the  city.  Even  the  Princess  had  none.  Father 
hunted  up  a  song  book,  opened  it  and  set  it  on  the  rack. 
Then  all  of  us  went  out. 

"We'll  write  to  the  boys,  mother  and  I,  and  Shelley 
also,"  said  father.  "I  can't  express  myself  just  now. 
This  is  a  fine  thing  for  all  of  you  to  do." 

Frank  seemed  to  think  so  too,  and  looked  rather  puffed 
up,  until  Leon  began  telling  about  his  horse.  When 
Frank  found  out  that  Laddie,  who  had  not  yet  branched 
out  for  himself,  had  given  Leon  much  more  than  any  one 
of  them  had  Shelley,  he  looked  a  little  disappointed.  He 
explained  how  the  piano  cost  eight  hundred  dollars,  but 
by  paying  cash  all  at  once,  the  man  took  seven  hundred 
and  fifty,  so  it  only  cost  them  one  hundred  and  fifty  a 
piece,  and  none  of  them  felt  it  at  all. 

"Sometimes  the  clouds  loom  up  pretty  black,  and 
mother  and  I  scarcely  know  how  to  go  on,  save  for  the 
help  of  the  Lord,  but  we  certainly  are  blest  with  good 
children,  children  we  can  be  proud  of.  Your  mother  wil 
like  that  instrument  as  well  as  Shelley,  son,"  said  father. 

Frank  went  out  and  rang  the  bell,  tolled  it,  and  made 
a  big  noise  like  he  always  did  when  he  came  unexpectedly, 
and  then  sat  on  the  back  fence  until  he  saw  them  coming, 


482  LADDIE 

and  went  to  meet  them.  He  walked  between  mother  and 
Shelley,  with  an  arm  around  each  one.  If  he  thought 
Shelley  looked  badly,  he  didn't  mention  it.  What  he  did 
say  was  that  he  was  starved,  and  to  fly  around  and  get 
supper.  I  thought  I'd  burst.  They  began  to  cook,  and 
the  boys  went  to  feed  and  see  Leon's  horse,  and  then  we 
had  supper.  I  just  sat  and  stared  at  Frank  and  grinned. 
I  couldn't  eat. 

"Do  finish  your  supper,"  said  mother.  "I  never  saw 
anything  take  your  appetite  like  seeing  your  brother. 
You'll  be  wanting  a  piece  before  bedtime." 

I  didn't  say  a  word,  because  I  was  afraid  to,  but  I  kept 
looking  at  Leon  and  he  smiled  back,  and  we  had  great 
fun.  Secrets  are  lovely.  Mother  couldn't  have  eaten  a 
bite  if  she'd  known  about  that  great  shining  thing,  all 
full  of  wonderful  sound,  standing  in  our  parlour.  When 
the  last  slow  person  had  finished,  father  said:  "Shelley, 
won't  you  step  into  the  front  room  and  bring  me  that 
book  I  borrowed  from  Frank  on  'Taxation.'  I  want  to 
talk  over  a  few  points." 

Ail  of  us  heard  her  little  breathless  cry,  and  mother 
said,  "There!"  as  if  she'd  been  listening  for  something, 
and  she  beat  all  of  us  to  the  door.  Then  she  cried  out 
too,  and  such  a  time  as  we  did  have.  At  last  after  all  of 
us  had  grown  sensible  enough  to  behave,  Shelley  sat  on 
the  stool,  spread  her  fingers  over  the  keys  and  played  at 
the  place  father  had  selected,  and  all  of  us  sang  as  hard 
as  we  could:  "Be  it  ever  so  humble,  There's  no  place 
like  home;"  and  there  was  no  place  like  ours,  of  that  I'm 
quite  sure. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
In  Faith  Believing 

"Nor  could  the  bright  green  world  around 
A  joy  to  her  impart, 
For  still  she  missed  the  eyes  that  made 
The  summer  of  her  heart." 

SOON  as  she  had  the  piano,  Shelley  needed  only 
the  Paget  man  to  make  her  happy  as  a  girl  could 
be;  and  having  faith  in  that  prayer,  I  decided 
to  try  it  right  away.  So  I  got  Laddie  to  promise  surely 
that  he'd  wake  me  when  he  got  up  the  next  morning. 
I  laid  my  clothes  out  all  ready;  he  merely  touched  my 
foot,  and  I  came  to,  slipped  out  with  him,  and  he  helped 
me  dress.  We  went  to  the  barn  when  the  morning  was 
all  gray. 

"What  the  dickens  have  you  got  in  your  head  now, 
Chicken?"  he  asked.     "Is  it  business  with  the  Fairies?" 

"No,  this  is  with  the  Most  High,"  I  said  solemnly,  like 
father.     "Go  away  and  leave  me  alone." 

"Well  of  all  the  queer  chickens!"  he  said,  but  he  kissed 
me  and  went. 

I  climbed  the  stairs  to  the  threshing  floor,  then  the 
ladder  to  the  mow,  walked  a  beam  to  the  wall,  there 
followed  one  to  the  east  end,  and  another  to  the  little, 
high-up  ventilator  window.     There  I   stood   looking  at 

483 


484  LADDIE 

the  top  of  the  world.  A  gray  mist  was  rising  like  steam 
from  the  earth,  there  was  a  curious  colour  in  the  east, 
stripes  of  orange  and  flames  of  red,  where  the  sun  was 
coming.  I  folded  my  hands  on  the  sill,  faced  the  sky, 
and  stood  staring.  Just  stood,  and  stood,  never  moving 
a  muscle.  By  and  by  I  began  to  think  how  much  we 
loved  Shelley,  how  happy  she  had  been  at  Christmas,  the 
way  she  was  now,  and  how  much  all  of  us  would  give  in 
money,  or  time,  or  love,  to  make  her  sparkling,  bubbling, 
happy  again;  so  I  thought  and  thought,  gazing  at  the  sky, 
which  every  second  became  a  grander  sight.  Little  cold 
chills  began  going  up  my  back,  and  soon  I  was  talking  to 
the  Lord  exactly  as  if  He  stood  before  me  on  the  reddest 
ray  that  topped  our  apple  trees. 

I  don't  know  all  I  said.  That's  funny,  for  I  usually 
remember  to  the  last  word;  but  this  time  it  was  so  impor- 
tant, I  wanted  it  so  badly,  and  I  was  so  in  earnest  that 
words  poured  in  a  stream.  I  began  by  reminding  Him 
that  He  knew  everything,  and  so  He'd  understand  if 
what  I  asked  was  for  the  best.  Then  I  told  Him  how  it 
looked  to  us,  who  knew  only  a  part;  and  then  I  went  at 
Him  and  implored  and  beseeched,  if  it  would  be  best  for 
Shelley,  and  would  make  her  happy,  to  send  her  the  Paget 
man,  and  to  be  quick  about  it.  When  I  had  said  the  last 
word  that  came  to  me,  and  begged  all  I  thought  becom- 
ing— I  don't  think  with  His  face,  that  Jesus  wants  us  to 
grovel  to  Him,  at  least  He  looks  too  dignified  to  do  it 
Himself — I  just  stood  there,  still  staring. 

I  didn't  expect  to  see  a  burning  bush,  or  a  pillar  of  fire, 
®r  a  cloud  of  flame,  or  even  to  hear  a  small,  still  voice;  but 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  485 

I  watched,  so  I  wouldn't  miss  it  if  there  should  be  any- 
thing different  in  that  sunrise  from  any  other  I  ever  had 
seen,  and  there  was  not.  Not  one  thing!  It  was  so 
beautiful,  and  I  was  so  in  earnest  my  heart  hurt;  but  that 
was  like  any  other  sunrise  on  a  fine  July  morning.  There 
wasn't,  the  least  sign  that  Jesus  had  heard  me,  and  would 
send  the  man;  yet  before  I  knew  it,  I  was  amazed  to  find 
the  feeling  creeping  over  me  that  he  was  coming.  If  I  had 
held  the  letter  in  my  hand  saying  he  would  arrive  on  the 
noon  train,  I  couldn't  have  grown  surer.  Why,  I  even 
looked  down  the  first  time  I  moved,  to  see  if  I  had  it;  but 
I  was  certain  anyway.  So  I  looked  steadily  toward  the 
east  once  more  and  said,  "Thank  you,  with  all  my  heart, 
Lord  Jesus,"  then  I  slowly  made  my  way  down  and  back 
to  the  house. 

Shelley  was  at  the  orchard  gate,  waiting;  so  I  knew 
they  had  missed  me,  and  Laddie  had  told  them  where  I 
was  and  not  to  call.  She  had  the  strangest  look  on  her 
face,  as  she  asked:  "Where  have  you  been?" 

I  looked  straight  and  hard  at  her  and  said,  "It's  all 
right,  Shelley.  He's  going  to  come  soon";  but  I  didn't 
think  it  was  a  thing  to  mouth  over,  so  I  twisted  away  from 
her,  and  ran  to  the  kitchen  to  see  if  breakfast  had  all  been 
eaten.  I  left  Shelley  standing  there  with  her  eyes  wide, 
also  her  mouth.  She  looked  about  as  intelligent  as 
Mehitabel  Heasty,  and  it  wouldn't  have  surprised  me  if 
she  had  begun  to  jump  up  and  down  and  say  there  were 
snakes  in  her  shoes.  No  doubt  you  have  heard  of  people 
having  been  knocked  silly;  I  knew  she  was,  and  so  she  had 
a  perfect  right  to  look  that  way,  until  she  could  remember 


486  LADDIE 

what  she  was  doing  and  come  back  to  herself.  Maybe 
it  took  her  longer,  because  mother  wasn't  there,  to  re- 
mind her  about  her  mouth,  and  I  didn't  propose  to  men- 
tion it. 

At  breakfast,  mother  said  father  was  going  to  drive 
Frank  home  in  the  carriage,  and  if  I  would  like,  I  might 
go  along.  I  would  have  to  sit  on  the  back  seat  alone, 
going;  but  coming  home  I  could  ride  beside  and  visit  with 
father.  I  loved  that,  for  you  could  see  more  from  the 
front  seat,  and  father  would  stop  to  explain  every  single 
thing.  He  always  gave  me  the  money  and  let  me  pay 
the  toll.  He  would  get  me  a  drink  at  the  spring,  let  me 
wade  a  few  minutes  at  Enyard's  riffles,  where  their  creek, 
with  the  loveliest  gravel  bed,  ran  beside  the  road;  and  he 
always  raced  like  wildfire  at  the  narrows,  where  for  a 
mile  the  railroad  ran  along  the  turnpike. 

We  took  Frank  to  his  office,  stopped  a  little  while  to 
visit  Lucy,  and  give  her  the  butter  and  cream  mother 
sent,  went  to  the  store  to  see  Peter,  and  then  to  the  post- 
office.  From  there  we  could  see  that  the  veranda  of  the 
hotel  across  the  street  was  filled  with  gayly  dressed  people, 
and  father  said  that  the  summer  boarders  from  big  cities 
around  must  be  pouring  in  fast.  When  he  came  out  with 
the  mail  he  said  he  better  ask  if  the  landlord  did  not 
want  some  of  mother's  corn  and  milk  fed  spring  chickens, 
because  last  year  he  had  paid  her  more  than  the  grocer. 
So  he  drove  across  the  street,  stopped  at  the  curb,  and 
left  me  to  hold  the  team. 

Maybe  you  think  I  wasn't  proud!  I've  told  you 
about  Ned  and  Jo,  with  their  sharp  ears,  dappled  sides, 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  487 

and  silky  tails,  and  the  carriage  almost  new,  with  leather 
seats,  patent  leather  trimmings,  and  side  lamps,  so  shiny 
you  could  see  yourself  in  the  brass.  We  never  drove  into 
the  barn  with  one  speck  of  mud  or  dust  on  it.  That  was 
how  particular  mother  was. 

I  watched  the  team  carefully;  I  had  to  if  I  didn't  want 
my  neck  broken;  but  I  also  kept  an  eye  on  that  veranda. 
You  could  see  at  a  glance  that  those  were  stylish  women. 
Now  my  mother  liked  to  be  in  fashion  as  well  as  any  one 
could;  so  I  knew  she'd  be  mightily  pleased  if  I  could  tell 
her  a  new  place  to  set  her  comb,  a  different  way  to  fasten 
her  collar,  or  about  an  unusual  pattern  for  a  frock. 

I  got  my  drink  at  the  spring,  father  offered  to  stop  at 
the  riffle,  but  I  was  enjoying  the  ride  so  much,  and  I 
could  always  wade  at  home,  although  our  creek  was  not 
so  beautiful  as  Enyard's,  but  for  common  wading  it 
would  do;  we  went  through  the  narrows,  like  two  shakes 
of  a  sheep's  tail,  then  we  settled  down  to  a  slow  trot,  and 
were  having  the  loveliest  visit  possible,  when  in  the 
bundle  on  my  lap,  I  saw  the  end  of  something  that  inter- 
ested me.  Mr.  Agnew  always  made  our  mail  into  a  roll 
with  the  Advocate  and  the  Agriculturist  on  the  outside, 
and  because  every  one  was  so  anxious  about  their  letters, 
and  some  of  them  meant  so  much,  I  felt  grown  and  im- 
portant while  holding  the  package. 

I  was  gripping  it  tight  when  I  noticed  the  end  of  one 
letter  much  wider  and  fatter  than  any  I  ever  had  seen,  so 
when  father  was  not  looking  I  began  pushing  it  a  little 
at  one  end,  and  pulling  it  at  the  other,  to  work  it  up,  until 
I  could  read  the  address.     I  got  it  out  so  far  I  thought 


488  LADDIE 

every  minute  he'd  notice,  and  tell  me  not  to  do  that,  but 
I  could  only  see  Stanton.  All  of  us  were  Stanton,  so  it 
might  be  for  me,  for  that  matter.  Jerry  might  be  sending 
me  pictures,  or  a  book,  he  did  sometimes,  but  there  was 
an  exciting  thing  about  it.  Besides  being  fatter  than  it 
looked  right  at  the  end,  it  was  plastered  with  stamps — 
lots  of  them,  enough  to  have  brought  it  clear  around  the 
world.  I  pushed  that  end  back,  pulled  out  the  other,  and 
took  one  good  look.  I  almost  fell  from  the  carriage.  I 
grabbed  father's  arm  and  cried:  "Stop!  Stop  this  team 
quick.     Stop  them  and  see  if  I  can  read." 

"Are  you  crazy,  child?"  asked  father,  but  he  checked 
the  horses. 

"No,  but  you  are  going  to  be  in  a  minute,"  I  said. 
"Look  at  that!" 

I  yanked  the  letter  from  the  bundle,  and  held  it  over. 
I  thought  I  could  read,  but  I  was  too  scared  to  be  sure. 
I  thought  it  said  in  big,  strong,  upstanding  letters,  Miss 
Shelley  Stanton,  Groveville,  Indiana.  And  in  the  upper 
corner,  Blackburn,  Yeats  and  Paget,  Counsellors  of  Law, 
37  to  39  State  St.,  Chicago.  I  put  my  finger  on  the  Paget, 
and  looked  into  father's  face.  I  was  no  fool  after  all.  He 
was  not  a  bit  surer  that  he  could  read  than  I  was,  from  the 
dazed  way  he  stared. 

"You  see!"  I  said. 

"It  says  Paget!"  he  said,  like  he  would  come  nearer 
believing  it  if  he  heard  himself  pronounce  the  word. 

"I  thought  it  said  'Paget,'"  I  gasped,  "but  I  wanted  to 
know  if  you  thought  so  too." 

"Yes,  it's  Paget  plain  enough,"   said  father,  but  he 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  489 

acted  like  there  was  every  possibility  that  it  might  change 
to  Jones  any  minute.     "It  says  'Paget,'  plain  as  print." 

"Father!"  I  cried,  clutching  his  arm,  "father,  see  how 
fat  it  is!  There  must  be  pages  and  pages!  Father,  it 
wouldn't  take  all  that  to  tell  her  he  didn't  like  her,  and 
he  never  wanted  to  see  her  again.     Would  it,  father?" 

"It  doesn't  seem  probable,"  said  father. 

"Father,  don't  you  think  it  means  there's  been  some 
big  mistake,  and  it  takes  so  much  to  tell  how  it  can  be 
fixed  ? " 

"It  seems  reasonable." 

I  gripped  him  tighter,  and  maybe  shook  him  a  little. 

"Father!"  I  cried.  "Father,  doesn't  it  just  look 
hurry,  all  over ?  Can't  you  speed  up  a  little?  They  have 
all  day  to  cool  off.     Oh  father,  won't  you  speed  a  little?" 

"That  I  will!"  said  father.  "Get  a  tight  hold,  and 
pray  God  it  is  good  word  we  carry." 

"But  I  prayed  the  one  big  prayer  to  get  this,"  I  said. 
"It  wouldn't  be  sent  if  it  wasn't  good.  The  thing  to  do 
now  is  to  thank  the  Lord  for  'all  his  loving  kindnesses," 
like  mother  said.     Drive  father!     Make  them  go!" 

At  first  he  only  touched  them  up;  I  couldn't  see  that 
we  were  getting  home  so  fast;  but  in  a  minute  a  cornfield 
passed  like  a  streak,  a  piece  of  woods  flew  by  a  dark  blur, 
a  bridge  never  had  time  to  rattle,  and  we  began  to  rock 
from  side  to  side  a  little.  Then  I  gripped  the  top  supports 
with  one  hand,  the  mail  with  the  other,  and  hung  on  for 
dear  life.     I  took  one  good  look  at  father. 

His  feet  were  on  the  brace,  his  face  was  clear,  even  white, 
his  eyes  steely,  and  he  never  moved  a  muscle.     When  Jo 


49o  LADDIE 

thought  it  was  funny,  that  he  was  loose  in  the  pasture, 
and  kicked  up  a  little  behind,  father  gave  him  a  sharp  cut 
with  the  whip  and  said:  "Steady  boy!     Get  along  there!" 

Sometimes  he  said,  "Aye,  aye!  Easy!"  but  he  never 
stopped  a  mite.  We  whizzed  past  the  church  and  ceme- 
tery, and  scarcely  touched  the  Big  Hill.  People  ran  to 
their  doors,  even  to  the  yards,  and  I  was  sure  they  thought 
we  were  having  a  runaway,  but  we  were  not.  Father 
began  to  stop  at  the  lane  gate,  he  pulled  all  the  way  past 
the  garden,  and  it  was  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  get  them 
slowed  down  so  that  I  could  jump  out  by  the  time  we 
reached  the  hitching  rack.  He  tied  them,  and  followed 
me  into  the  house  instead  of  going  to  the  barn.  I  ran 
ahead  calling:  "Shelley!     Where  is  Shelley?" 

"What  in  this  world  has  happened,  child?"  asked 
mother,  catching  my  arm. 

"Her  letter  has  come!  Her  Paget  letter!  The  one 
you  looked  for  until  you  gave  up.  It's  come  at  last!  Oh, 
where  is  she?" 

"  Be  calmer,  child,  you'l?  frighten  her,"  said  mother. 

May  snatched  the  letter  from  my  fingers  and  began  to 
read  all  that  was  on  it  aloud.     I  burst  out  crying. 

"Make  her  give  that  back!"  I  sobbed  to  father.  "It's 
mine !     I  found  it.     Father,  make  her  let  me  take  it ! " 

"Give  it  to  her!"  said  father.  "I  rather  feel  that  it 
is  her  right  to  deliver  it." 

May  passed  it  back,  but  she  looked  so  disappointed, 
that  by  how  she  felt  I  knew  how  much  I  wanted  to  take 
it  myself;  so  I  reached  my  hand  to  her  and  said:  "You 
can  come  along !     We'll  both  take  it !     Oh  where  is  she  ? " 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  491 

"  She  went  down  in  the  orchard,"  said  mother.  "I 
think  probably  she's  gone  back  where  she  was  the  other 
day." 

Gee,  but  we  ran!  And  there  she  was!  As  we  came  up, 
she  heard  us  and  turned. 

"Shelley!"  I  cried.  "Here's  your  letter!  Everything 
is  all  right!  He's  coming,  Shelley!  Look  quick,  and  see 
when!     Mother  will  want  to  begin  baking  right  away!" 

Shelley  looked  at  me,  and  said  coolly:  "Paddy  Ryan! 
What's  the  matter?" 

"  Your  letter ! "  I  cried,  shoving  it  right  against  her  hands. 
"Your  letter  from  Robert!  From  the  Paget  man,  you 
know!     I  told  you  he  was  coming!     Hurry,  and  see  when!" 

She  took  it,  and  sat  there  staring  at  it,  so  much  like 
father,  that  it  made  me  think  of  him,  so  I  saw  that  she 
was  going  to  have  to  come  around  to  it  as  we  did,  and  that 
one  couldn't  hurry  her.  She  just  had  to  take  her  time 
to  sense  it. 

"Shall  I  open  it  for  you?"  I  asked,  merely  to  make  her 
see  that  it  was  time  she  was  doing  it  herself. 

Blest  if  she  didn't  reach  it  toward  me! — sort  of  wooden- 
like.  I  stuck  my  finger  under  the  flap,  gave  it  a  rip 
across  and  emptied  what  was  inside  into  her  lap.  Bet 
there  were  six  or  seven  letters  in  queer  yellow  envelopes 
I  never  before  had  seen  any  like,  and  on  them  was  the 
name,  Robert  Paget,  while  in  one  corner  it  said,  "Re- 
turned Dead  Letter";  also  there  was  a  loose  folded  white 
sheet.  She  sat  staring  at  the  heap,  touching  one,  an- 
other, and  repeating  "Robert  Paget?"  as  she  picked  each 
up  in  turn. 


492  LADDIE 

"What  do  you  suppose  it  means?"  she  asked  May, 
May  examined  them. 

"You  must  read  the  loose  sheet,"  she  advised.  "No 
doubt  that  will  explain." 

But  Shelley  never  touched  it.  She  handled  thost 
letters  and  stared  at  them.  Father  and  mother  came 
through  the  orchard  and  stood  together  behind  us,  sc 
father  knelt  down  at  last,  reached  across  Shelley's  shoulder 
picked  one  up  and  looked  at  it. 

"Have  you  good  word,  dear?"  asked  mother  of  Shelley. 

"Why,  I  don't  understand  at  all,"  said  Shelley.  "Just 
look  at  all  these  queer  letters,  addressed  to  Mr.  Paget. 
Why  should  they  be  sent  to  me?  I  mustn't  open  them. 
They're  not  mine.     There  must  be  some  mistake." 

"These  are  dead  letters"  said  father.  "They've  been 
written  to  you,  couldn't  be  delivered,  and  so  were  sent 
to  the  Dead  Letter  Office  at  Washington,  which  returned 
them  to  the  writer,  and  unopened  he  has  forwarded  them 
once  more  to  you.  You've  heard  of  dead  letters,  haven't 
your 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Shelley.  "I  don't  remember  just 
sow;  but  there  couldn't  be  a  better  name.  They've  come 
mighty  near  killing  me." 

"If  you'd  only  read  that  note!"  urged  May,  putting  it 
right  into  her  fingers. 

Shelley  still  sat  there. 

"I'm  afraid  of  it,"  she  said  exactly  like  I'd  have  spoken 
if  there  had  been  a  big  rattlesnake  coming  right  at  me, 
when  I'd  nothing  at  hand  to  bruise  it. 

Laddie  and  Leon  came  from  the  barn.     They  had  heard 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  493 

me  calling,  seen  May  and  me  run,  and  then  father  and 
mother  coming  down,  so  they  walked  over. 

"What's  up?"  asked  Leon.  "Has  Uncle  Levi's  will 
been  discovered,  and  does  mother  get  his  Mexican  mines  ? " 

"What  have  you  got,  Shelley?"  asked  Laddie,  kneeling 
beside  her,  and  picking  up  one  of  the  yellow  letters. 

"I  hardly  know,"  said  Shelley. 

"I  brought  her  a  big  letter  with  all  those  little  ones 
and  a  note  in  it,  and  they  are  from  the  Paget  man,"  I 
explained  to  him.  "But  she  won't  even  read  the  note, 
and  see  what  he  writes.     She  says  she's  afraid." 

"Poor  child!  No  wonder!"  said  Laddie,  sitting  beside 
her  and  putting  his  arm  around  her.  "Suppose  I  read 
it  for  you.     May  I?" 

"Yes,"  said  Shelley.  "You  read  it.  Read  it  out  loud. 
I  don't  care." 

She  leaned  against  him,  while  he  unfolded  the  white 
sheet. 

"Umph!"  he  said.  "This  does  look  bad  for  you.  It 
begins:     'My  own  darling  Girl.'" 

"Let  me  see!"  cried  Shelley,  suddenly  straightening,  and 
reaching  her  hand. 

Laddie  held  the  page  toward  her,  but  she  only  looked, 
she  didn't  offer  to  touch  it. 

"'My  own  darling  Girl:"'  repeated  Laddie  tenderly, 
making  it  mean  just  all  he  possibly  could,  because  kj  felt 
so  dreadfully  sorry  for  her — "'On  my  return  to  Chicago, 
from  the  trip  to  England  I  have  so  often  told  you  I  in- 
tended to  make  some  time  soon ' " 

"Did  he?"  asked  mother. 


494  LADDIE 

"Yes,"  answered  Shelley.  "He  couldn't  talk  about 
much  else.  It  was  his  first  case.  It  was  for  a  friend  of 
his  who  had  been  robbed  of  everything  in  the  world; 
honour,  relatives,  home,  and  money.  If  Robert  won  it, 
he  got  all  that  back  for  his  friend  and  enough  for  himself 
— that  he  could — a  home  of  his  own,  you  know!  Read 
on,  Laddie!" 

"'I  was  horrified  to  find  on  my  desk  every  letter  I  had 
written  you  during  my  absence  returned  to  me  from  the 
Dead  Letter  Office,  as  you  see.'" 

"Good  gracious!"  cried  mother,  picking  up  one  and 
clutching  it  tight  as  if  she  meant  to  see  that  it  didn't  get 
away  again. 

"Go  on!"  cried  Shelley. 

"'I  am  enclosing  some  of  them  as  they  came  back  to 
me,  in  proof  of  my  statement.  I  drove  at  once  to  your 
boarding  place  and  found  you  had  not  been  there  for 
weeks,  and  your  landlady  was  distinctly  crabbed.  Then 
I  went  to  the  college,  only  to  find  that  you  had  fallen  ill 
and  gone  to  your  home.  That  threw  me  into  torments, 
and  all  that  keeps  me  from  taking  the  first  train  is  the 
thought  that  perhaps  you  refused  to  accept  these  letters, 
for  some  reason.  Shelley,  you  did  not,  did  you?  There 
is  some  mistake  somewhere,  is  there  not "' 

"One  would  be  led  to  think  so,"  said  father  sternly. 
"  Seems  as  if  he  might  have  managed  some  way " 

"Don't  you  blame  him!"  cried  Shelley.  "Can't  you 
see  it's  all  my  fault?  He'd  been  coming  regularly,  and 
the  other  girls  envied  me;  then  he  just  disappeared,  and 
there  was  no  word  or  anything,  and  they  laughed  and 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  495 

whispered  until  I  couldn't  endure  it;  so  I  moved  in  with 
Peter's  cousin,  as  I  wrote  you;  but  that  left  Mrs.  Fleet 
with  an  empty  room  in  the  middle  of  the  term,  and  it 
made  her  hopping  mad.  I  bet  anything  she  wouldn't 
give  the  postman  my  new  address,  to  pay  me  back.  I 
left  it,  of  course.  But  if  I'd  been  half  a  woman,  and 
had  the  confidence  I   should   have  had  in  myself  and 

in  him Oh  how  I've  suffered,  and  punished  all  of 

you !" 

"Never  you  mind  about  that,"  said  mother,  stroking 
Shelley's  hair.  "Likely  there  isn't  much  in  Chicago  to 
give  a  girl  who  never  had  been  away  from  her  family 
before,  'confidence'  in  herself  or  any  one  else.  As  for  him, 
— just  disappearing  like  that,  without  a  word  or  even  a 

line Go  on  Laddie ! " 

Surely,  you  knew  that  I  was  only  waiting  the  outcome 
of  this  trip  to  tell  you  how  dearly  I  love  you.  Surely,  you 
encouraged  me  in  thinking  you  cared  for  me  a  little, 
Shelley.     Only  a  little  will  do  to  begin  with ' " 

"You  see,  I  did  have  something  to  go  on!"  cried  Shelley, 
wiping  her  eyes  and  straightening  up. 

"No  doubt  you  misunderstood  and  resented  my  going 
without  coming  to  explain,  and  bid  you  good-bye  in 
person,  but  Shelley,  /  simply  dared  not.  You  see,  it  was 
this  way:  I  got  a  cable  about  the  case  I  was  always  talk- 
ing of,  and  the  only  man  who  could  give  the  testimony 
I  must  have  was  dying!" 

"For  land's  sake!  The  poor  boy!"  cried  mother,  pat- 
ting Shelley's  shoulder. 

"An  hour's  delay  might  mean  the  loss  of  everything 


496  LADDIE 

in  the  world  to  me,  even  you.     For  if  I  lost  any  time,  and 
the  man  escaped  me,  there  was  no  hope  of  winning  my 

case,  and  everything,  even  you,  as  I  said  before,  depended 

h)  j> 
im 

"  Good  Lord !     I  mean  land ! "  cried  Leon. 

"'If  I  could  catch  the  train  in  an  hour,  I  could  take  a 
boat  at  New  York,  and  go  straight  through  with  no  loss 
of  time.  So  I  wrote  you  a  note  that  probably  said  more 
than  I  would  have  ventured  in  person,  and  paid  a  boy 
to  deliver  it.'" 

"Kept  the  money  and  tore  up  the  note,  I  bet!"  said  May. 

"'I  wrote  on  the  train,  but  found  after  sailing  that  I 
had  rushed  so  I  had  failed  to  post  it  in  New  York.  I 
kept  on  writing  every  day  on  the  boat,  and  mailed  you 
six  at  Liverpool.  All  the  time  I  have  written  frequently; 
there  are  many  more  here  that  this  envelope  will  not  hold, 
that  I  shall  save  until  I  hear  from  you.'" 

"Well,  well!"  said  father. 

"'Shelley,  I  beat  death,  reached  my  man,  got  the. 
testimony  I  had  to  have,  and  won  my  case." 

"Glory ! "  cried  mother.     " Praise  the  Lord ! " 

"'Then  I  scoured  England,  and  part  of  the  continent, 
hunting  some  interested  parties;  and  when  I  was  so  long 
finding  them,  and  still  no  word  came  from  you,  I  decided 
to  come  back  and  get  you,  if  you  would  come  with  me,  and 
go  on  with  the  work  together." 

"Listen  to  that!  More  weddings!"  cried  Leon.  He 
dropped  on  his  knees  before  Shelley.  "Will  you  marry 
me,  my  pretty  maid?"  he  begged. 

"Young  man,  if  you  cut  any  capers  right  now,  I'll  cuff 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  497 

your  ears!"  cried  father.     "This  is  no  proper  time  for 
your  foolishness!" 

"'Shelley,  I  beg  that  you  will  believe  me,  and  if  you 
care  for  me  in  the  very  least,  telegraph  if  I  may  come. 
Quick!  I'm  half  insane  to  see  you.  I  have  many  things 
to  tell  you,  first  of  all  how  dear  you  are  to  me.  Please 
telegraph.     Robert.'" 

"Saddle  a  horse,  Leon!"  father  cried  as  he  unstrapped 
his  wallet.     "Laddie,  take  down  her  message." 

"  Can  you  put  it  into  ten  words  ? "  asked  Laddie. 

"Mother,  what  would  you  say?"  questioned  Shelley. 

Leon  held  up  his  fingers  and  curled  down  one  with  each 
word.  "Say,  'Dear  Robert.  Well  and  happy.  Come 
when  you  get  ready.'" 

"But  then  I  won't  know  when  he's  coming,"  objected 
Shelley. 

"You  don't  need  to,"  said  Leon.  "You  can  take  it  for 
granted  from  that  epistolary  effusion  that  he  won't  let 
the  grass  grow  under  his  feet  while  coming  here.  That's 
a  bully  message!  It  sounds  as  if  you  weren't  crazy  over 
him,  arid  it's  a  big  compliment  to  mother.  Looks  as  if 
she  didn't  have  to  know  when  people  are  coming — like 
she's  ready  all  the  time." 

"Write  it  out  and  let  me  see,"  said  Shelley. 

So  Laddie  wrote  it,  and  she  looked  at  it  a  long  time, 
it  seemed  to  me,  at  last  she  said:  "I  don't  like  that 
'get.'     It  doesn't  sound  right.     Wouldn't  'are'  be  better  ? " 

"Come  when  you  are  ready,"  repeated  Laddie.  "Yes, 
that's  better.     'Get'  sounds  rather  saucy." 

"Why  not  put  it,  'Come  when  you  choose?'"  suggested 


498  LADDIE 

mother.  "That  will  leave  a  word  to  spare,  so  it  won't 
look  as  if  you  had  counted  them  and  used  exactly  ten  on 
purpose,  and  it  doesn't  sound  as  if  you  expected  him  to 
make  long  preparations,  like  the  other.  That  will  leave 
it  with  him  to  start  whenever  he  likes." 

"Yes!  yes!"  cried  Shelley.  "That's  much  better! 
Say,  'Come  when  you  choose!"' 

"Right!"  said  Laddie  as  he  wrote  it.  "Now  I'll  take 
this!" 

"Oh  no  you  won't!"  cried  Leon.  "Father  told  me  to 
saddle  my  horse.  She's  got  enough  speed  in  her  to  beat 
yours  a  mile.  I  take  that!  Didn't  you  say  for  me  to 
saddle,  father?" 

"Such  important  business,  I  think  I  better,"  said  Lad- 
die, and  Leon  began  to  cry. 

"I  think  you  should  both  go,"  said  Shelley.  "It  is 
so  important,  and  if  one  goes  to  make  a  mistake,  maybe 
the  other  will  notice  it." 

"Yes,  that's  the  best  way,"  said  mother. 

"Yes,  both  go,"  said  father. 

It  was  like  one  streak  when  they  went  up  the  Big  Hill. 
Father  shook  his  head.  "Poor  judgment — that,"  he 
said.     "Never  run  a  horse  up  hill!" 

"But  they're  in  such  a  hurry,"  Shelley  reminded  him. 

"So  they  are,"  said  father.  "In  this  case  I  might  have 
broken  the  rule  myself.  Now  come  all  of  you,  and  let 
the  child  get  at  her  mail." 

"But  I  want  you  to  stay,"  said  Shelley.  "I'm  so 
addle-pated  this  morning.     I  need  my  family  to  help  me." 

"Of  course  you  do,  child,"  said  mother.     "Families 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  499 

were  made  to  cling  together,  and  stand  by  each  other  in 
every  circumstance  of  life — joy  or  sorrow.  Of  course  you 
need  your  family." 

May  began  sorting  the  letters  by  dates  so  Shelley  could 
start  on  the  one  that  had  been  written  first.  Father  ran 
his  knife  across  the  top  of  each,  and  cut  all  the  envelopes, 
and  Shelley  took  out  the  first  and  read  it;  that  was  the 
train  one.  In  it  he  told  her  about  sending  the  boy  with 
the  note  again,  and  explained  more  about  how  it  was  so 
very  important  for  him  to  hurry,  because  the  only  man 
who  could  help  him  was  so  sick.  We  talked  it  over,  and 
all  of  us  thought  the  boy  had  kept  the  money  and  torn 
up  the  note.  Father  said  the  way  would  have  been  to 
send  the  note  and  pay  the  boy  when  he  came  back;  but 
Shelley  said  Mr.  Paget  would  have  been  gone  before  the 
boy  got  back,  so  father  saw  that  wouldn't  have  been  the 
way,  in  such  a  case. 

Next  she  read  one  written  on  the  boat.  He  told  more 
about  sending  the  boy;  how  he  loved  her,  what  it  would 
mean  to  both  of  them  if  he  got  the  evidence  he  wanted  and 
won  his  first  case;  and  how  much  it  would  bring  his  friend. 
The  next  one  told  it  all  over  again,  and  more.  In  that 
he  wrote  a  little  about  the  ocean,  the  people  on  board  the 
ship,  and  he  gave  Shelley  the  name  of  the  place  where  he 
was  going  and  begged  her  to  write  to  him.  He  told  her 
if  the  ship  he  was  on  passed  another,  they  were  going  to 
stop  and  send  back  the  mail.  He  begged  her  to  write 
often,  and  to  say  she  forgave  him  for  starting  away  with- 
out seeing  her,  as  he  had  been  forced  to. 

The  next  one  was  the  same  thing  over,  only  a  little  more 


500  LADDIE 

yet.  In  the  last  he  had  reached  England,  the  important 
man  was  still  living,  but  he  was  almost  gone,  and  Mr. 
Paget  took  two  good  witnesses,  all  the  evidence  he  had, 
and  went  to  see  him;  and  the  man  saw  it  was  no  use,  so 
he  made  a  statement,  and  Robert  had  it  all  written  out, 
signed  and  witnessed.  For  the  real  straight  sense  there 
was  in  that  letter,  I  could  have  done  as  well  myself.  It 
was  a  wild  jumble,  because  Robert  was  so  crazy  over 
having  the  evidence  that  would  win  his  case;  and  he  told 
Shelley  that  now  he  was  perfectly  free  to  love  her  all  she 
would  allow  him.  He  said  he  had  to  stay  a  while  longer 
to  find  his  friend's  people  so  they  would  get  back  their 
share  of  the  money,  but  it  was  not  going  to  be  easy  to 
locate  them.  You  wouldn't  think  the  world  so  big,  but 
maybe  it  seemed  smaller  to  me  because  as  far  as  I  could 
see  from  the  top  of  our  house,  was  all  I  knew  about  it. 
After  Shelley  had  read  the  letters,  and  the  note  again, 
father  heaved  a  big  sigh  that  seemed  to  come  clear  from 
his  boot  soles  and  he  said:  "Well  Shelley,  it  looks  to  me 
as  if  you  had  found  a  man.  Seems  to  me  that's  a  mighty 
important  case  for  a  young  lawyer  to  be  trusted  with, 
in  a  first  effort." 

"Yes,  but  it  was  for  Robert's  best  friend,  and  only 
think,  he  has  won!" 

"I  don't  see  how  he  could  have  done  better  if  he'd  been 
old  as  Methuselah,  and  wise  as  Solomon,"  boasted  mother. 

"But  he  hasn't  found  the  people  who  must  have  back 
their  money,"  said  May.  "He  will  have  to  go  to  Eng- 
land again.  And  he  wants  to  take  you,  Shelley.  My! 
You'll  get  to  sail  on  a  big  steamer,  cross  the  Atlantic 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  501 

Ocean,  and  see  London.     Maybe  you'll  even  get  a  peep 
at  the  Queen!" 

Shelley  was  busy  making  a  little  heap  of  her  letters; 
when  the  top  one  slid  off  I  reached  over  and  put  it  back 
for  her.  She  looked  straight  at  me,  and  smiled  the  most 
wonderful  and  the  most  beautiful  smile  I  ever  saw  on  any 
one's  face,  so  I  said  to  her:  "You  see!  I  told  you  he  was 
coming!" 

"I  can't  understand  it!"  said  Shelley. 
"You  know  I  told  you." 

"Of  course  I  do!     But  what  made  you  think  so?" 
"That  was  the  answer.     Just  that  he  was  coming." 
"What  are  you  two  talking  about?"  asked  mother. 
Shelley  looked  at  me,  and  waited  for  me  to  tell  mother 
as  much  as  I  wanted  to,  of  what  had  happened.     But  I 
didn't  think  things  like  that  were  to  be  talked  about  before 
everyone,  so  I  just  said:  "Oh  nothing!    Only,  I  told  Shelley 
this  very  morning  that  the  Paget  man  was  coming  soon, 
and  that  everything  was  going  to  be  all  right." 

"You  did?     Well  of  all  the  world!     I  can't  see  why." 
"Oh  something  told  me!     I  just  felt  that  way." 
"More  of  that  Fairy  nonsense?"  asked  father  sharply. 
"No.     I  didn't  get  that  from  the  Fairies." 
"Well,  never  mind!"  said  Shelley,  rising,  because  she 
saw  that  I  had  told  all  I  wanted  to.     "Little  Sister  did 
tell  me  this  morning  that  he  was  coming,  that  everything 
would  be  made  right,  and  it's  the  queerest  thing,  but  in- 
stantly I  believed  her.     Didn't  I  sing  all  morning,  mother  ? 
The  first  note  since  Robert  didn't  come  when  I  expected 
him  in  Chicago,  weeks  ago." 


502  LADDIE 

"Yes,"  said  mother.  "That's  a  wonderfully  strange 
thing.     I  can't  see  what  made  you  think  so." 

"Anyway,  I  did!"  I  said.  "Now  let's  go  have  dinner. 
I'm  starving." 

I  caught  May's  hand,  and  ran  to  get  away  from  them. 
Father  and  mother  walked  one  on  each  side  of  Shelley, 
while  with  both  hands  she  held  her  letters  before  her. 
When  we  reached  the  house  we  just  talked  about  them  all 
the  time.  Pretty  soon  the  boys  were  back,  and  then 
they  told  about  sending  the  telegram.  Leon  vowed  he 
gave  the  operator  a  dime  extra  to  start  that  message  with 
a  shove,  so  it  would  go  faster. 

"It  will  go  all  right,"  said  Laddie,  "and  how  it  will  go 
won't  be  a  circumstance  to  the  way  he'll  come.  If  there's 
anything  we  ought  to  do,  before  he  gets  here,  we  should 
hustle.  Chicago  isn't  a  thousand  miles  away.  That 
message  can  reach  him  by  two  o'clock,  it's  probable  he 
has  got  ready  while  he  was  waiting,  so  he  will  start  on 
the  first  train  our  way.  He  could  reach  Groveville  on 
the  ten,  to-morrow.     We  better  meet  it." 

"Yes,  we'll  meet  it,"  said  mother.  "Is  the  carriage 
perfectly  clean?" 

Father  said:  "It  must  be  gone  over.  Our  general 
manager  here  ordered  me  to  speed  up,  and  we  drove  a 
little  coming  from  town." 

Mother  went  to  planning  what  else  should  be  done. 

"Don't  do  anything!"  cried  Shelley.  "The  house  is 
all  right.  There's  no  need  to  work  and  worry  into  a 
sweat.     He  won't  notice  or  care  how  things  look." 

"I  miss  my  guess  if  he  doesn't  notice  and  care  very 


i'N  FAITH  BELIEVING  503 

much  indeed,"  said  mother  emphatically.  "Men  are 
not  blind.  No  one  need  think  they  don't  see  when  things 
are  not  as  they  should  be,  just  because  they're  not  cattish 
enough  to  let  you  know  it,  like  a  woman  always  does. 
Shelley,  wouldn't  you  like  to  ride  over  and  spend  the 
afternoon  with  the  Princes?" 

"Nope!"  said  Shelley.  "It's  her  turn  to  come  to  see 
me.  Besides,  you  don't  get  me  out  of  the  way  like  that. 
I  know  what  you'll  do  here,  and  I  intend  to  help." 

"Do  you  need  one  of  the  boys  at  the  house?"  asked 
father,  and  if  you'll  believe  it,  both  of  them  wanted  to 
stay. 

P'ather  said  he  must  have  one  to  help  wash  the  carnage 
and  do  a  little  fixing  around  the  barn;  so  he  took  Leon, 
but  he  didn't  like  to  go.  He  said:  "I  don't  see  what  all 
this  fuss  is  about,  anyway.  Probably  he'll  be  another 
Peter." 

Shelley  looked  at  him:  "Oh  Mr.  Paget  isn't  nearly 
so  large  as  Peter,"  she  said,  "and  his  hair  is  whiter  than 
yours,  while  his  eyes  are  not  so  blue." 

"Saints  preserve  us!"  cried  Leon.  "Come  on,  father, 
let's  only  dust  the  carriage!  He's  not  worth  washing  it 
for." 

"Is  he  like  that?"  asked  mother  anxiously. 

"Wait  and  see!"  said  Shelley.  "Looks  don't  make  a 
man.     He  has  proved  what  he  can  do." 

Then  all  of  us  went  to  work.  Before  night  we  were 
hunting  over  the  yard,  and  beside  the  road,  to  see  if  we 
could  find  anything  to  pick  up.  Six  chickens  were  in  the 
cellar,  father  was  to  bring  meat  and  a  long  list  of  groceries 


504  LADDIE 

from  town  in  the  morning.  He  was  to  start  early,  get 
them  before  train  time,  put  them  under  the  back  seat, 
and  take  them  out  after  he  drove  into  the  lane,  when  he 
came  back.  That  made  a  little  more  trouble  for  father, 
but  there  was  not  the  slightest  necessity  for  making  Mr. 
Paget  feel  that  he  had  ridden  in  a  delivery  wagon. 

Next  morning  I  wakened  laughing  softly,  because  some 
one  was  fussing  with  my  hair,  patting  my  face,  and  kissing 
me,  so  I  put  up  my  arms  and  pulled  that  loving  person 
down  on  my  pillow,  and  gave  back  little  half-asleep  kisses, 
and  slept  on;  but  it  was  Shelley,  and  she  gently  shook  me 
and  began  repeating  that  fool  old  thing  I  have  been  waked 
up  with  half  the  mornings  of  my  life: 

"Get  up,  Little  Sister,  the  morning  is  bright, 
The  birds  are  all  singing  to  welcome  the  light, 
Get  up;  for  when  all  things  are  merry  and  glad, 
Good  children  should  never  be  lazy  and  sad; 
For  God  gives  us  daylight,  dear  sister,  that  we 
May  rejoice  like  the  lark  and  work  like  the  bee." 

Usually  I'd  have  gone  on  sleeping,  but  Shelley  was  so 
sweet  and  lovely,  and  she  kissed  me  so  hard,  that  I  remem- 
bered it  was  going  to  be  a  most  exciting  day,  so  I  came 
to  quick  as  snap  and  jumped  right  up,  for  I  didn't  want 
to  miss  a  single  thing  that  might  happen. 

The  carriage  was  shining  when  it  came  to  the  gate,  so 
was  father.  I  thought  there  was  going  to  be  a  vacant 
seat  beside  him,  and  I  asked  if  I  might  go  along.  He  said : 
"Yes,  if  mother  says  so."  He  always  would  stick  that  in. 
So  I  ran  to  ask  her,  and  she  didn't  care,  if  Shelley  made 
no  objections.     I  was  just  starting  to  find  her,  when  here 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  505 

she  came,  all  shining  too,  but  Laddie  was  with  her.  I 
hadn't  known  that  he  was  going,  and  I  was  so  disap- 
pointed I  couldn't  help  crying. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Shelley. 

"Father  and  mother  both  said  I  might  go,  if  you  didn't 
care. 

"Why,  I'm  dreadfully  sorry,"  said  Shelley,  "but  I 
have  several  things  I  want  Laddie  to  do  for  me." 

Laddie  stooped  down  to  kiss  me  good-bye  and  he  said : 
"Don't  cry,  Little  Sister.  The  way  to  be  happy  is  to 
be  good." 

Then  they  drove  to  Groveville,  and  we  had  to  wait. 
But  there  was  so  much  to  do,  it  made  us  fly  to  get  all  of 
it  finished.  So  mother  sent  Leon  after  Mrs.  Freshett  to 
help  in  the  kitchen,  while  Candace  wore  her  white  dress, 
and  waited  on  the  table.  Mother  cut  flowers  for  the 
dining  table,  and  all  through  the  house.  She  left  the 
blinds  down  to  keep  the  rooms  cool,  chilled  buttermilk 
to  drink,  and  if  she  didn't  thixik  of  every  single,  least  little 
thing,  I  couldn't  see  what  it  was.  Then  all  of  us  put  on 
our  best  dresses.  Mother  looked  as  glad  and  sweet  as 
any  girl,  when  she  sat  to  rest  a  little  while.  I  didn't  dare 
climb  the  catalpa  in  my  white  dress,  so  I  watched  from  the 
horse  block,  and  when  I  saw  the  grays  come  over  the  top 
of  the  hill,  I  ran  to  tell.  As  mother  went  to  the  gate, 
she  told  May  and  me  to  walk  behind,  to  stay  back  until 
we  were  spoken  to,  and  then  to  keep  our  heads  level,  and 
remember  our  manners.  I  don't  know  where  Leon  went. 
He  said  he  lost  all  interest  when  he  found  there  was  to  be 
another  weak-eyed  towhead  in  the  family,  and  I   guess 


506  LADDIE 

he  was  in  earnest  about  it,  because  he  wasn't  even  curious 
enough  to  be  at  the  gate  when  Mr.  Paget  came. 

Father  stopped  with  a  flourish,  Laddie  hurried  around 
and  helped  Shelley,  and  then  Mr.  Paget  stepped  down. 
Goodness,  gracious,  sakes  alive !  Little  ?  Towhead  ?  He 
was  taller  than  Laddie.  His  hair  was  most  as  black  as 
ink,  and  wavy.  His  eyes  were  big  and  dark;  he  was 
broad  and  strong  and  there  was  the  cleanest,  freshest  look 
about  him.  He  put  his  arm  spang  around  Shelley,  right 
there  in  the  road,  and  mother  said:  "Hold  there!  Not 
so  fast,  young  man!     I  haven't  given  my  consent  to  that." 

He  laughed,  and  he  said:  "Yes,  but  you'ah  going  to!" 
And  he  put  his  other  arm  around  mother,  so  May  and 
I  crowded  up,  and  we  had  a  family  reunion  right  between 
the  day  lilies  and  the  snowball  bush.  We  went  into  the 
house,  and  he  liked  us,  his  room,  and  everything  went 
exactly  right.  He  was  crazy  about  the  cold  buttermilk, 
and  while  he  was  drinking  it  Leon  walked  into  the  dining- 
room,  because  he  thought  of  course  Mr.  Paget  and  Shelley 
would  be  on  the  davenport  in  the  parlour.  When  he  saw 
Robert  he  said  lowlike  to  Shelley:  "Didn't  Mr.  Paget 
come?     Who's  that?" 

Shelley  looked  so  funny  for  a  minute,  then  she  remem- 
bered what  she  had  told  him  and  she  just  laughed  as  she 
said:     "Mr.  Paget,  this  is  my  brother." 

Robert  went  to  shake  hands,  and  Leon  said  right  to  his 
teeth:     "Well  a  divil  of  a  towhead  you  are!" 

"Towhead?"  said  Robert,  bewildered-like. 

"Shelley  said  you  were  a  little  bit  of  a  man,  with  watery 
blue  eyes,  and  whiter  hair  than  mine." 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  507 

"Oh  I  say!"  cried  Robert.  "She  must  have  been 
stringin'  you!" 

Leon  just  whooped;  because  while  Mr.  Paget  didn't  talk 
like  the  'orse,  'ouse  people,  he  made  you  think  of  them 
in  the  way  he  said  things,  and  the  sound  of  his  voice.  Then 
we  had  dinner,  and  I  don't  remember  that  we  ever  had 
quite  such  a  feast  before.  Mother  had  put  on  every  single 
flourish  she  knew.  She  used  her  very  best  dishes,  and 
linen,  and  no  cook  anywhere  could  beat  Candace  alone; 
now  she  had  Mrs.  Freshett  to  help  her,  and  mother  also. 
If  she  tried  to  show  Mr.  Paget,  she  did  it !  No  visitor  was 
there  except  him,  but  we  must  have  been  at  the  table 
two  hours  talking,  and  eating  from  one  dish  after  another. 
Candace  liked  to  wear  her  white  dress,  and  carry  things 
around,  and  they  certainly  were  good. 

And  talk!  Father,  Laddie,  and  Robert  talked  over  all 
creation.  Every  once  in  a  while  when  mother  saw  an 
opening,  she  put  in  her  paddle,  and  no  one  could  be 
quicker,  when  she  watched  sharp  and  was  trying  to  make 
a  good  impression.  Shelley  was  very  quiet;  she  scarcely 
spoke  or  touched  that  delicious  food.  Once  the  Paget 
man  turned  to  her,  looking  at  her  so  fondlike,  as  he  picked 
up  one  of  her  sauce  dishes  and  her  spoon  and  wanted  to 
feed  her.  And  he  said:  "Heah  child,  eat  your  dinnah! 
You  have  nawthing  to  be  fussed  ovah!  I  mean  to  pro- 
pose to  you,  and  your  parents  befowr  night.  That  is 
what  I  am  heah  for." 

Every  one  laughed  so,  Shelley  never  got  the  bite;  but 
after  that  she  perked  up  more  and  ate  a  little  by  herself. 

At  last  father  couldn't  stand  it  any  longer,  so  he  began 


508  LADDIE 

asking  Robert  about  his  trip  to  England,  and  the  case 
he  had  won.  When  the  table  was  cleared  for  dessert,  Mr. 
Paget  asked  mother  to  have  Candace  to  bring  his  satchel. 
He  opened  it  and  spread  papers  all  over,  so  that  father 
and  Laddie  could  see  the  evidence,  while  he  told  them 
how  it  was. 

It  seemed  there  was  a  law  in  England,  all  of  us  knew 
about  it,  because  father  often  had  explained  it.  This  law 
said  that  a  man  who  had  lots  of  money  and  land  must 
leave  almost  all  of  it  to  his  eldest  son;  and  the  younger 
ones  must  go  into  law,  the  army,  be  clergymen,  or  enter 
trade  and  earn  a  living,  while  the  eldest  kept  up  the  home 
place.  Then  he  left  it  to  his  eldest  son,  and  his  other  boys 
had  to  work  for  a  living.  It  kept  the  big  estates  together; 
but  my!  it  was  hard  on  the  younger  sons,  and  no  one 
seemed  even  to  think  about  the  daughters.  I  never 
heard  them  mentioned. 

Now  there  was  a  very  rich  man;  he  had  only  two  sons, 
and  each  of  them  married,  and  had  one  son.  The  younger 
son  died,  and  sent  his  boy  for  his  elder  brother  to  take 
care  of.  He  pretended  to  be  good,  but  for  sure,  he  was 
bad  as  ever  he  could  be.  He  knew  that  if  his  cousin  were 
out  of  the  way,  all  that  land  and  money  would  be  his 
when  his  uncle  died.  So  he  went  to  work  and  he  tried 
for  years,  and  a  lawyer  man  who  had  no  conscience  at  all, 
helped  him.  At  last  when  they  had  done  everything 
they  could  think  of,  they  took  a  lot  of  money  and  put  it 
in  the  pocket  of  the  son  they  wanted  to  ruin;  then  when 
his  father  missed  the  money,  and  the  house  was  filled 
with  policemen,  detectives,  and  neighbours,  the  bad  man 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  509 

said  he'd  feel  more  comfortable  to  have  the  family  searched 
too,  merely  as  a  formality,  so  he  stepped  out  and  was 
gone  over,  and  when  the  son's  turn  came,  there  was  the 
money  on  him!  That  made  him  a  public  disgrace  to  his 
family,  and  a  criminal  who  couldn't  inherit  the  estate,  and 
his  father  went  raving  mad  and  tried  to  kill  him,  so  he  had 
to  run  away.  At  first  he  didn't  care  what  he  did,  so  he 
came  over  here.  Robert  said  that  man  was  his  best  friend, 
and  as  men  went,  he  was  a  decent  fellow,  so  he  cheered 
him  up  all  he  could,  and  went  to  work  with  all  his  might 
to  prove  he  was  innocent,  and  to  get  back  his  family,  and 
his  money  for  him. 

When  Robert  had  enough  evidence  that  he  was  almost 
ready  to  start  to  England,  his  man  got  a  cable  from  an 
old  friend  of  his  father's,  who  always  had  believed  in  him, 
and  it  said  that  the  bad  man  was  dying — to  come  quick. 
So  Robert  went  all  of  a  sudden,  like  the  Dead  Letters 
told  about.  Now,  he  described  how  he  reached  there, 
took  the  old  friend  of  the  father  of  his  friend  with  him, 
and  other  witnesses,  and  all  the  evidence  he  had,  and  went 
to  see  the  sick  man.  When  Robert  showed  him  what 
he  could  prove,  the  bad  man  said  it  was  no  use,  he  had  to 
die  in  a  few  days,  so  he  might  as  well  go  with  a  clean 
conscience,  and  he  told  about  everything  he  had  done. 
Robert  had  it  all  written  out,  signed  and  sworn  to.  He 
told  about  all  of  it,  and  then  he  said  to  father:  "Have 
I  made  it  clear  to  you  ? " 

Leon  was  so  excited  he  forgot  all  the  manners  he  ever 
had,  for  he  popped  up  before  father  could  open  his  head, 
and  cried:     "Clear  as  mud!     I  got  that  son  business  so 


5io  LADDIE 

plain  in  my  mind,  I'd  know  the  party  of  the  first  part, 
from  the  party  of  the  second  part,  if  I  met  him  prom- 
enading on  the  Stone  Wall  of  China ! " 

Pather  and  Laddie  knew  so  much  law  they  asked  dozens 
of  questions;  but  that  Robert  man  wasn't  a  smidgin 
behind,  for  every  clip  he  had  the  answer  ready,  and  then 
he  could  go  on  and  tell  much  more  than  he  had  been  asked. 
He  said  as  a  Case,  it  was  a  pretty  thing  to  work  on;  but 
it  was  much  more  than  a  case  to  him,  because  he  always 
had  known  that  his  friend  was  not  guilty;  that  he  was 
separated  from  his  family,  suffering  terribly  under  the 
disgrace,  and  they  must  be  also.  He  had  worked  for  life 
for  his  friend,  because  the  whole  thing  meant  so  much  to 
both  of  them.  He  said  he  must  go  back  soon  and  finish 
up  a  little  more  that  he  should  have  done  while  he  was 
there,  if  it  hadn't  been  that  he  received  no  word  from 
Shelley. 

"When  I  didn't  heah  from  heh  for  so  long,  and  wrote 
so  many  letters,  and  had  no  reply,  I  thought  possibly 
some  gay  'young  Lochinvah  had  come  out  from  the  west,' 
and  taken  my  sweet-'eart,"  he  said,  "and  while  I  had 
my  armour  on,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I'd  give  him  a 
fight  too.  I  didn't  propose  to  lose  Shelley,  if  it  were  in 
my  powah  to  win  heh.  I  hadn't  been  able  to  say  to  heh 
exactly  what  I  desiahed,  on  account  of  getting  a  start  alone 
in  this  country;  but  if  I  won  this  case,  I  would  have  ample 
means.  When  I  secuahed  the  requiahed  evidence,  I 
couldn't  wait  to  finish,  so  I  came  straight  ovah,  to  make 
sure  of  heh." 

He  arose  and  handed  the  satchel  to  father. 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  511 

"I  notice  you  have  a  very  good  looking  gun  conveni- 
ent," he  said.  "Would  you  put  these  papahs  where  you 
consider  them  safe  until  I'm  ready  to  return?  Our  home, 
our  living,  and  the  honah  of  a  man  are  there,  and  we  are 
mighty  particular  about  that  bag,  are  we  not,  Shelley?" 

"Well  I  should  think  we  are!"  cried  Shelley.  "For 
goodness  sake,  father,  hang  to  it!  Is  the  man  still  living? 
Could  you  get  that  evidence  over  again  ? " 

"He  was  alive  when  I  left,  but  the  doctors  said  ten 
days  would  be  his  limit,  so  he  may  be  gone  befowr  this." 

Father  picked  up  the  satchel,  set  it  on  his  knees,  and 
stroked  it  as  if  it  were  alive. 

"Well!  Well!"  he  said.  "Now  would  any  one  think 
such  a  little  thing  could  contain  so  much?" 

Shelley  leaned  toward  Robert. 

"Your  friend!"  she  cried,  "Your  friend!  What  did 
he  say  to  you?     What  did  he  d 0  ? " 

"Well,  for  a  time  he  was  wildly  happy  ovah  having  the 
stain  removed  from  his  honah,  and  knowing  that  he  would 
have  his  family  and  faw'tn  back;  but  there  is  an  extremely 
sad  feature  to  his  case  that  is  not  yet  settled,  so  he  must 
keep  his  head  level  until  we  work  that  out.  Now  about 
that  hoss  you  wanted  to  show  me "  he  turned  to  Leon. 

Mother  gave  the  signal,  and  we  left  the  table.  Father 
carried  the  satchel  to  his  chest,  made  room  for  it,  locked  it 
in  and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket.  Then  our  men  started 
to  the  barn  to  show  the  Arab-Kentucky  horse.  Mr.  Paget 
went  to  Shelley  and  took  her  in  his  arms  exactly  like 
Peter  did  Sally  before  the  parlour  door  that  time  when  I 
got  into  trouble,  and  he  looked  at  mother  and  laughed 


512  LADDIE 

as  he  said:  "I  hope  you  will  excuse  me,  but  I've  been 
having  a  very  nawsty,  anxious  time,  and  I  cawn't  conform 
to  the  rules  for  a  few  days,  until  I  become  accustomed  to 
the  fawct  that  Shelley  is  not  lost  to  me.  It  was  beastly 
when  I  reached  Chicago,  had  back  all  my  letters,  and 
found  she  had  gone  home  ill.  I've  much  suffering  to 
recompense.     I'll  atone  for  a  small  portion  immediately.'* 

He  lifted  Shelley  right  off  the  floor — that's  how  big 
and  strong  he  was — he  hugged  her  tight,  and  kissed  her 
forehead,  cheeks,  and  eyes. 

"When  I've  gone  through  the  fahmality  of  asking  your 
parents  for  you,  and  they  have  said  a  gracious  'yes,'  I'll 
put  the  fust  one  on  your  lips,"  he  said,  setting  her  down 
carefully.  "In  the  meantime,  you  be  fixing  your  mouth 
to  say,  'yes/  also,  when  I  propose  to  you,  because  it's 
coming  befowr  you  sleep." 

Shelley  was  like  a  peach  blossom.  She  reached  up  and 
touched  his  cheek,  while  she  looked  at  mother  all  smiling, 
and  sparkling,  as  she  said:     "You  see!" 

Mother  smiled  back. 

"I  do,  indeed!"  she  answered. 

Leon  pulled  Mr.  Paget's  sleeve. 

"Aw  quit  lally-gaggin'  and  come  see  a  real  horse,"  he  said. 

Robert  put  his  other  arm  around  Leon,  drew  him  to  his 
side  and  hugged  him  as  if  he  were  a  girl.  "I'm  so  glad 
Shelley  has  a  lawge  family,"  he  said.  "Big  families  are 
jolly.  I'm  so  proud  of  all  the  brothers  I'm  going  to  have. 
I  was  the  only  boy  at  home." 

"You  haven't  told  us  about  your  family,"  said  mother. 

"No,"  said  Robert,  "but  I  intend  to.     I  have  a  family! 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  513 

One  of  the  finest  on  uth.     We'll  talk  about  them  after 
this  hoss  is  inspected." 

He  let  Shelley  go  and  walked  away,  his  arm  still  around 
Leon.  Shelley  ran  to  mother  and  both  of  them  sobbed 
out  loud. 

"Now  you  see  how  it  was!"  she  said. 

"You  poor  child!"  cried  mother.  "Indeed  I  do  see 
how  it  was.  You've  been  a  brave  girl.  A  good,  brave 
girl!     Father  and  I  are  mighty  proud  of  you!" 

"Oh  mother!  I  thought  you  were  ashamed  of  me!" 
sobbed  Shelley. 

"Oh  my  child!"  said  mother  quavery-like.  "Oh  my 
child !  You  surely  see  that  none  of  us  could  understand, 
as  we  do  now." 

She  patted  Shelley,  and  told  her  to  run  upstairs  and  lie 
down  for  a  while,  because  she  was  afraid  she  would  be  sick. 

"We  mustn't  have  a  pale,  tired  girl  right  now,"  said 
mother. 

"Well!"  said  Shelley,  but  she  just  stood  there  holding 
mother. 

"Well?"  said  mother  gripping  her. 

"You  see!"  said  Shelley. 

"Child,"  said  mother,  "I  do  see!  I  see  six  feet  of  as 
handsome  manhood  as  I  ever  have  seen  anywhere.  His 
manner  is  perfect,  and  I  find  his  speech  most  attractive. 
I  am  delighted  with  him.  I  do  see  indeed !  Your  father 
is  quite  as  proud  and  pleased  as  I  am.     Now  go  to  bed." 

Shelley  held  up  her  lips,  and  then  went.  I  ran  to  the 
barn,  where  the  men  were  standing  in  the  shade,  while 
Leon  led  his  horse  up  and  down  before  them,  told  about 


514  LADDIE 

its  pedigree,  its  record,  how  he  came  to  have  it.  The 
Paget  man  stood  there  looking  and  listening  gravely,  as 
he  studied  the  horse.  At  last  he  went  over  her,  and  gee! 
but  he  knew  horse!  Then  Laddie  brought  out  Flos  and 
they  talked  all  about  her,  and  then  went  into  the  barn. 
Father  opened  the  east  doors  to  show  how  much  land  he 
had,  which  were  his  lines;  and  while  the  world  didn't 
look  quite  so  pretty  as  it  had  in  May,  still  it  was  good 
enough.  Then  they  went  into  the  orchard,  sat  under 
the  trees  and  began  talking  about  business  conditions. 
That  was  so  dry  I  went  back  to  the  house.  And  maybe 
I  didn't  strike  something  interesting  there! 

As  I  came  up  the  orchard  path  to  a  back  yard  gate,  I 
saw  a  carriage  at  the  hitching  rack  in  front  of  the  house,  so 
I  took  a  peep  and  almost  fell  over.  It  was  the  one  the 
Princess  had  come  to  Sally's  wedding  in;  so  I  knew  she 
was  in  the  house  visiting  Shelley.  I  went  to  the  parlour 
and  there  I  had  another  shock;  for  lo  and  behold!  in  our 
big  rocking  chair,  and  looking  as  well  as  any  one,  so  far 
as  you  could  see — of  course  you  can't  see  heart  trouble, 
though — sat  Mrs.  Pryor.  The  Princess  and  mother 
were  there,  all  of  them  talking,  laughing  and  having  the 
best  time,  while  on  the  davenport  enjoying  himself  as 
much  as  any  one,  was  Mr.  Pryor.  They  talked  about 
everything,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  Pryor  door  was 
open  so  far  as  we  were  concerned,  anyway.  Mrs.  Pryor 
was  just  as  nice  and  friendly  as  she  could  be,  and  so  was 
oe.  Shelley  sat  beside  him,  and  he  pinched  her  cheek 
and  said:  "Something  seems  to  make  you  especially 
brilliant  to-day,  young  woman!" 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  515 

Shelley  flushed  redder,  laughed,  and  glanced  at  mother, 
so  she  said:  "Shelley  is  having  a  plain  old-fashioned  case 
of  beau.  She  met  a  young  man  in  Chicago  last  fall  and 
he's  here  now  to  ask  our  consent.  All  of  us  are  quite 
charmed  with  him.     That's  why  she's  so  happy." 

Then  the  Princess  sprang  up  and  kissed  Shelley,  so  did 
Mrs.  Pryor,  while  such  a  chatter  you  never  heard.  No 
one  could  repeat  what  they  said,  for  as  many  as  three 
talked  at  the  same  time. 

"Oh  do  let's  have  a  double  wedding! "  cried  the  Princess 
when  the  excitement  was  over  a  little.  "I  think  it  would 
be  great  fun;  do  let's!     When  are  you  planning  for?" 

"Nothing  is  settled  yet,"  said  Shelley.  "We've  had 
no  time  to  talk!" 

"Mercy ! "  cried  the  Princess.  "Go  make  your  arrange- 
ments quickly!  Hurry  up,  then  come  over,  and  we'll 
plan  for  the  same  time.  It  will  be  splendid !  Don't  you 
think  that  would  be  fine,  Mrs.  Stanton?" 

"I  can't  see  any  objections  to  it,"  said  mother. 

"Where  is  your  young  man?  I'm  crazy  to  see  him," 
cried  the  Princess.  "If  you  have  gone  and  found  a  better 
looking  one  than  mine,  I'll  never  speak  to  you  again." 

"She  hasn't!"  said  Mrs.  Pryor  calmly,  like  that  settled 
it.     I  like  her.     "They're  not  made!" 

"I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  said  Shelley  proudly. 
"Mother,  isn't  my  man  quite  as  good  looking,  and  as  nice 
in  every  way,  as  Laddie?" 

"Fully  as  handsome,  and  so  far  as  can  be  seen  in  such 
a  short  time,  quite  as  fine,"  said  mother. 

I  was  perfectly  amazed  at  her;  as  if  any  man  could  be! 


516  LADDIE 

"I  don't  believe  it,  I  won't  stand  it,  and  I  shan't  go 
home  until  I  have  seen  for  myself!"  cried  the  Princess, 
laughing,  and  yet  it  sounded  as  if  she  were  half-provoked, 
and  I  knew  I  was.  The  Paget  man  was  all  right,  but  I 
wasn't  going  to  lose  my  head  over  him.  Laddie  was  the 
finest,  of  course! 

"Well,  he's  somewhere  on  the  place  with  our  men,  this 
minute,"  said  Shelley,  "but  you  stay  for  supper,  and 
meet  him." 

"When  you  haven't  your  arrangements  made  yet! 
You  surely  are  unselfish !  Of  course  I  won't  do  that,  but 
I'd  love  to  have  one  little  peep,  then  you  bring  him  and 
come  over  to-morrow,  so  all  of  us  can  become  acquainted, 
and  indeed,  I'm  really  in  earnest  about  a  double  wedding." 

"Go  see  where  the  men  are,"  said  Shelley  to  me. 

I  went  to  the  back  door,  and  their  heads  were  bobbing 
far  down  in  the  orchard. 

"They're  under  the  greening  apple  tree,"  I  reported. 

"If  you  will  excuse  us,"  said  Shelley  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pryor,  "we'll  walk  down  a  few  minutes  and  prove  that 
I'm  right." 

"Don't  stay,"  said  Mrs.  Pryor.  "This  trip  is  so  un- 
usual for  me  that  I'm  quite  tired.  For  a  first  venture,, 
in  such  a  long  time,  I  think  I've  done  well.  But  now  I'm 
beginning  to  feel  I  should  go  home." 

"Go  straight  along,"  said  the  Princess.  "I'll  walk 
across  the  fields,  or  Thomas  can  come  back  after  me." 

So  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pryor  went  away,  while  the  Princess, 
Shelley,  May,  and  I  walked  through  the  orchard  toward 
the  men.     They  were  standing  on  the  top  of  the  hill 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  517 

looking  over  the  meadow,  and  talking  with  such  interest 
they  didn't  hear  us  or  turn  until  Shelley  said:  "Mr. 
Paget,  I  want  to  present  you  to  Laddie's  betrothed — 
Miss  Pamela  Pryor." 

He  swung  around,  finishing  what  he  was  saying  as  he 
turned,  the  Princess  took  a  swift  step  toward  him,  then, 
at  the  same  time,  both  of  them  changed  to  solid  tomb- 
stone, and  stood  staring,  and  so  did  all  of  us,  while  no  one 
made  a  sound.  At  last  the  Paget  man  drew  a  deep, 
quivery  breath  and  sort  of  shook  himself  as  he  gazed  at 
her. 

"Why,  Pam!"  he  cried.  "Darling  Pam,  cawn  it  possi- 
bly be  you?" 

If  you  ever  heard  the  scream  of  a  rabbit  when  the 
knives  of  a  reaper  cut  it  to  death,  why  that's  exactly  the 
way  she  cried  out.  She  covered  her  eyes  with  her  hands. 
He  drew  back  and  smiled,  the  red  rushed  into  his  face,  and 
he  began  to  be  alive  again.  Laddie  went  to  the  Princess 
and  took  her  hands. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  he  begged. 

She  pulled  away  from  him,  and  went  to  the  Paget  man 
slowly,  her  big  eyes  wild  and  strained. 

"Robert!"  she  cried.  "Robert!  how  did  you  get  here? 
Were  you  hunting  us?" 

"All  ovah  England,  yes,"  he  said.  "Not  heah !  I  came 
heah  to  see  Shelley.  But  you?  How  do  you  happen 
to  be  in  this  country?" 

"We've  lived  on  adjoining  land  for  two  years!" 

"You  moved  heah!     To  escape  the  pity  of  our  friends?" 

"Father  moved!     Mother  and  I  had  no  means,  and 


518  LADDIE 

no  refuge.  We  were  forced.  We  never  believed  it!  Oh 
Robert,  we  never — not  for  a  minute!  Oh  Robert,  say 
you  never  did  it!" 

"Try  our  chawming  cousin  Emmet  your  next  guess!" 

"That  devil!     Oh  that  devil!" 

She  cried  out  that  hurt  way  again,  so  he  took  her  tight 
in  his  arms;  but  sure  as  ever  Laddie  was  my  brother,  he 
was  hers,  so  that  was  all  right.  When  they  were  together 
you  wondered  why  in  this  world  you  hadn't  thought  of  it 
the  instant  you  saw  him  alone.  They  were  like  as  two 
peas.  They  talked  exactly  the  same,  only  he  sounded 
much  more  so,  probably  from  having  just  been  in  Eng- 
land for  weeks,  while  in  two  years  she  had  grown  a  little 
as  we  were.  We  gazed  at  them,  open-mouthed,  like  as 
not,  and  no  one  said  a  word. 

At  last  Mr.  Paget  looked  over  the  Princess'  shoulder 
at  father  and  said:  "I  can  explain  this,  Mr.  Stanton,  in 
a  very  few  wuds.  /  am  my  friend.  The  case  was  my  own. 
The  evidence  I  secuahed  was  for  myself.  This  is  my  only 
sisteh.     Heh  people  are  mine " 

"The  relationship  is  apparent,"  said  father.  "There 
is  a  striking  likeness  between  you  and  your  sister,  and 
I  can  discern  traces  of  your  parents  in  your  face,  speech 
and  manner." 

"If  you  know  my  father,"  said  Robert,  "then  you  un- 
dehstand  what  happened  to  me  when  I  was  found  with 
his  money  on  my  pehson,  in  the  presence  of  our  best 
friends  and  the  police.  He  went  raving  insane  on  the 
instant,  and  he  would  have  killed  me  if  he  hadn't  been 
prevented;  he  tried  to;  has  he  changed  any  since,  Pam?" 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  519 

The  Princess  was  clinging  to  him  with  both  hands, 
staring  at  him,  wonder,  joy,  and  fear  all  on  her  lovely 
face. 

"Worse!"  she  cried.  "He's  much  worse!  The  longer 
he  broods,  the  more  mother  grieves,  the  bitterer  he  be- 
comes. Mr.  Stanton,  he  is  always  armed.  He'll  shoot 
on  sight.     Oh  what  shall  we  do?" 

"Miss  Pamela,"  said  Leon,  "did  your  man  Thomas 
know  your  brother  in  England?" 

"All  his  life." 

"Well,  then,  we'd  better  be  doing  something  quick. 
He  tied  the  horses  and  was  walking  up  and  down  the 
road  while  he  waited,  and  he  saw  us  plainly  when  we 
crossed  the  wood  yard  a  while  ago.  He  followed  us  and 
stared  so,  I  couldn't  help  noticing  him." 

"Jove!"  cried  Robert.  "I  must  have  seen  him  in 
the  village  this  morning.  A  man  reminded  me  of  him, 
then  I  remembered  how  like  people  of  his  type  are,  and 
concluded  I  was  mistaken.  Mr.  Stanton,  you  have 
agreed  that  the  evidence  I  hold  is  sufficient.  Pam  cawn 
tell  you  that  while  I  don't  deny  being  full  of  tricks  as  a  boy, 
they  weh  not  dirty,  not  low,  and  while  father  always 
taking  Emmet's  paht  against  me  drove  me  to  reckless- 
ness sometimes,  I  nevah  did  anything  underhand  or  dis- 
graceful. She  knows  what  provocation  I  had,  and  exactly 
what  happened.     Let  heh  tell  you!" 

"I  don't  feel  that  I  require  any  further  information," 
said  father.  "You  see,  I  happen  to  be  fairly  well  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Pryor." 

"Pryor?" 


520  LADDIE 

"He  made  us  use  that  name  here,"  explained  the 
Princess. 

" Welly  his  name  is  Paget!"  said  Robert  angrily. 

Laddie  told  me  long  ago  he  didn't  believe  it  was  Pryor. 

"Then,  if  you  are  acquainted  with  my  father,  what 
would  you  counsel?  Unless  I'm  prepahed  to  furnish  the 
central  figyah  of  interest  in  a  funeral,  I  dare  not  meet 
him,  until  he  has  seen  this  evidence,  had  time  to  digest  it, 
and  calm  himself." 

Shelley  caught  him  by  the  arm.  No  wonder!  She 
hadn't  been  proposed  to,  or  even  had  a  kiss  on  her  lips. 
She  pulled  him. 

"You  come  straight  to  the  house,"  she  said.  "Thomas 
may  tell  your  father  he  thought  he  saw  you." 

That  was  about  as  serious  as  anything  could  be,  but 
nothing  ever  stopped  Leon.  He  sidled  away  from  father, 
repeating  in  a  low  voice: 

" '  For  sore  dismayed,  through  storm  and  shade 
His  child  he  did  discover; 
One  lovely  hand  she  stretched  for  aid, 
And  one  was  round  her  lover — '  " 

Shelley  just  looked  daggers  at  him,  but  she  was  to 
anxious  to  waste  any  time. 

"Would  Thomas  tell  your  father?"  she  asked  the 
Princess. 

"The  instant  he  saw  him  alone,  yes.  He  wouldn't  be- 
fore mother." 

"Hold  one  minute!"  cried  father.  "We  must  think 
of  our  mother,  just  a  little.     Shelley,  you  and  t'^e  girlc 


IN  FAITH  BELIEVING  521 

run  up  and  explain  how  this  is.  Better  all  of  you  go  to 
the  house,  except  Mr.  Paget.  He'll  be  safe  here  as  any- 
where. Mr.  Pryor  will  stop  there,  if  he  comes.  So 
it  would  be  best  for  you  to  keep  out  of  sight,  Robert,  until 
I  have  had  a  little  talk  with  him." 

"I'll  stay  here,"  I  offered.  "We'll  talk  until  you  get 
Mr.  Pryor  cooled  off.  He  can  be  awful  ragesome  when 
he's  excited,  and  it  doesn't  take  much  to  start  him." 

"You're  right  about  that!"  agreed  Robert. 

So  we  sat  under  the  greening  and  were  having  a  fine 
visit  while  the  others  went  to  break  the  news  gently  to 
mother  that  the  Pryor  mystery  had  gone  up  higher  than 
Gilderoy's  kite.  My!  but  she'd  be  glad!  It  would  save 
her  many  a  powerful  prayer.  I  was  telling  Robert  all 
about  the  time  his  father  visited  us,  and  what  my  mother 
said  to  him,  and  he  said:  "She'd  be  the  one  to  talk  with 
him  now.  Possibly  he'd  listen  to  her,  until  he  got  it 
through  his  head  that  his  own  son  is  not  a  common  thief." 

"Maybe  he'll  have  to  be  held,  like  taking  quinine,  and 
made  to  listen,"  I  said. 

"That  would  be  easy,  if  he  were  not  a  walking  ahsenal," 
said  Robert.  "You  have  small  chance  to  reason  with  a 
half-crazy  man  while  he  is  handling  a  pistol." 

He  meant  revolver. 

"But  he'll  shoot!"  I  cried.  "The  Princess  said  he'd 
shoot!" 

"So  he  will!"  said  Robert.  "Shoot  first,  then  find  out 
how  things  are,  and  kill  himself  and  every  one  else  witk 
remorse,  afterward.     He  is  made  that  way." 

"Then  he  doesn't  dare  see  you  until  he  finds  out  hoi? 


522  LADDIE 

mistaken  he  has  been,"  I  said,  for  I  was  growing  to  like 
Robert  better  every  minute  longer  I  knew  him.  Besides, 
there  was  the  Princess,  looking  like  him  as  possible,  and 
loving  him  of  course,  like  I  did  Laddie,  maybe.  And  if 
anything  could  cure  Mrs.  Pryor's  heart  trouble,  having 
her  son  back  would,  because  that  was  what  made  it  in  the 
first  place,  and  even  before  them,  there  was  Shelley  to  be 
thought  of,  and  cared  for. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Pryor  Mystery 

"And  now  old  Dodson,  turning  pale, 
Yields  to  his  fate — so  ends  my  tale." 

IT  DIDN'T  take  me  long  to  see  why  Shelley  liked 
Robert  Paget.  He  was  one  of  the  very  most  likeable 
persons  I  ever  had  seen.  We  were  sitting  under  the 
apple  tree,  growing  better  friends  every  minute,  when  we 
heard  a  smash,  so  we  looked  up,  and  it  was  the  sound  made 
by  Ranger  as  Mr.  Pryor  landed  from  taking  our  meadow 
fence.  He  had  ridden  through  the  pasture,  and  was  com- 
ing down  the  creek  bank.  He  was  a  spectacle  to  behold. 
A  mile  away  you  could  see  that  Thomas  had  told  him  he 
had  seen  Robert,  and  where  he  was.  Father  had  been 
mistaken  in  thinking  Mr.  Pryor  would  go  to  the  house. 
He  had  lost  his  hat,  his  white  hair  was  flying,  his  horse 
was  in  a  lather,  and  he  seemed  to  be  talking  to  himself. 
Robert  took  one  good  look.  "Ye  Gods!"  he  cried. 
"There  he  comes  now,  a  chattering  madman!" 

"The  Station,"  I  panted.     "Up  that  ravine!     Rollback 
the  stone  and  pull  the  door  shut  after  you.     Quick!" 

He  never  could  have  been  inside,  before  Mr.  Pryor's 
horse  was  raving  along  the  embankment  beside  the  fence. 

"Where  is  he?"  he  cried.     "Thomas  saw  him  here!" 

523 


524  LADDIE 

I  didn't  think  his  horse  could  take  the  fence  at  the  top 
of  the  hill,  but  it  looked  as  if  he  intended  trying  to  make 
it,  and  I  had  to  stop  him  if  I  could. 

"Saw  who?"  I  asked  with  clicking  teeth. 

"A  tall,  slender  man,  with  a  handsome  face,  and  the 
heart  of  a  devil. " 

"Yes,  there  was  a  man  here  like  that  in  the  face.  I 
didn't  see  his  heart,"  I  said. 

"Which  way?"  raved  Mr.  Pryor.  "Which  way?  I« 
he  at  your  house?" 

Then  I  saw  that  he  had  the  reins  in  his  left  hand,  and  a 
big  revolver  in  his  right.  So  there  was  no  mistake  about 
whether  he'd  really  shoot.  But  that  gun  provoked  me. 
People  have  no  business  to  be  careless  with  those  things* 
They're  dangerous! 

"He  didn't  do  what  you  think  he  did,"  I  cried,  "and 
he  can  prove  he  didn't,  if  you'll  stop  cavorting,  and  listen 
to  reason." 

Mr.  Pryor  leaned  over  the  fence,  dark  purple  like  a 
beet  now. 

"You  tell  me  where  he  is,  or  I'll  choke  it  out  of  you," 
he  said. 

I  guess  he  meant  it.  I  took  one  long  look  at  his  lean, 
clawlike  fingers,  and  put  both  hands  around  my  neck. 

"He  knew  Thomas  saw  him.  He  went  that  way," 
I  said,  waving  off  toward  the  north. 

"Hah!  striking  for  petticoats,  as  usual!"  he  cried,  and 
away  he  went  in  the  direction  of  his  house.  Then  I  flew 
for  the  Station. 

"Come  from  there,  quick!"  I  cried.     "I've  sent  him 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  525 

back  to  his  house,  but  when  he  finds  you're  not  there,  he 
will  come  here  again.  Hurry,  and  I'll  put  you  in  the 
woodshed  loft.     He'd  never  think  of  looking  there." 

He  came  out  and  we  started  toward  the  house,  going 
pretty  fast.     Almost  to  the  back  gate  we  met  Shelley. 

"Does  mother  know?"  I  asked. 

"I  just  told  her,"  she  said. 

"Father,"  I  cried,  going  in  the  back  dining-room  door. 
"Mr.  Pryor  was  down  in  the  meadow  on  Ranger.  Thomas 
did  see  Robert,  and  his  father  is  hunting  him  with  a 
gun.  We  saw  him  coming,  so  I  hid  Robert  in  the  Station 
and  sent  Mr.  Pryor  back  home — I  guess  I  told  him  a  lie, 
father,  or  at  least  part  of  one,  I  said  he  went  'that  way,' 
and  he  did,  but  not  so  far  as  I  made  his  father  think; 
so  he  started  back  home,  but  when  he  gets  there  and 
doesn't  find  Robert  he'll  come  here  again,  madder  than 
ever.  Oh  father,  he'll  come  again,  and  he's  crazy,  father! 
Clear,  raving  crazy!     I  know  he'll  come  again!" 

"Yes,"  said  father  calmly.  "I  think  it  very  probable 
that  he  will  come  again." 

Then  he  started  around  shutting  and  latching  windows, 
closing  and  locking  the  doors,  and  he  carefully  loaded 
his  gun,  and  leaned  it  against  the  front  casing.  Then 
he  put  on  his  glasses,  and  began  examining  the  papers 
they  had  brought  out  again.  Robert  stood  beside  him, 
and  explained  and  showed  him. 

"You  see  with  me  out  of  the  way,  the  English  law  would 
give  everything  to  my  cousin,"  he  said,  and  he  explained 
it  all  over  again. 

"And  to  think  how  he   always   posed   for   a  perfect 


526  LADDIE 

saint!"  cried  the  Princess.     "Oh  I  hope  the  devil  knows 
how  to  make  him  pay  for  what  all  of  us  have  suffered !" 

"Child!     Child!"  cried  mother. 

"I  can't  help  it!"  said  the  Princess.  "Let  me  tell  you, 
Mr.  Stanton." 

Then  she  told  everything  all  over  again,  but  it  was  even 
more  interesting  than  the  way  Robert  explained  it,  be- 
cause what  she  said  was  about  how  it  had  been  with  her 
and  her  mother. 

"It  made  father  what  he  is,"  she  said.  "He  would 
have  killed  Robert,  if  our  friends  hadn't  helped  him  away. 
He  will  now,  if  he  isn't  stopped.  I  tell  you  he  will!  He 
sold  everything  he  could  legally  control,  for  what  any  one 
chose  to  give  him,  and  fled  here  stricken  in  pride,  heart- 
broken, insane  with  anger,  the  creature  you  know.  In  a 
minute  he'll  be  back  again.  Oh  what  are  we  going  to 
do?" 

Father  was  laying  out  the  papers  that  he  wanted  to  use 
Very  carefully. 

"These  constitute  all  the  proof  any  court  would  re- 
quire," he  said  to  Robert.  "If  he  returns,  all  of  you 
keep  from  sight.  This  is  my  house;  I'll  manage  who 
comes  here,  in  my  own  way." 

"But  you  must  be  allowed  to  take  no  risk!"  cried 
Robert.    "I  cawn't  consent  to  youah  facing  danger  for  me." 

"There  will  be  no  risk,"  said  father.  "There  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  want  to  injure  me.  As  the  master 
of  this  house,  I  am  accustomed  to  being  obeyed.  If 
he  comes,  step  into  the  parlour  there,  until  I  call  you." 

He  was  busy  with  the  papers  when  we  saw  Mr.  Pryor 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  527 

coming.  I  wondered  if  he  would  jump  the  yard  fence 
and  ride  down  mother's  flowers,  but  he  left  his  horse  at 
the  hitching  rack,  and  pounded  on  the  front  door. 

"Did  any  of  you  notice  whether  he  was  displaying  a 
revolver?"  asked  father. 

"Yes  father!  Yes!"  I  cried.  "And  he's  shaking  so 
I'm  afraid  he'll  make  it  go,  when  he  doesn't  intend  to." 

Father  picked  up  and  levelled  his  rifle  on  the  front  door. 

"Leon,"  he  said,  "you're  pretty  agile.  Open  this 
door,  keep  yourself  behind  it,  and  step  around  in  the 
parlour.     The  rest  of  you  get  out,  and  stay  out  of  range." 

Those  nearest  hurried  into  the  parlour.  Candace, 
May,  and  I  crouched  in  the  front  stairway,  but  things 
were  so  exciting  we  just  had  to  keep  the  door  open  a 
tiny  crack  so  we  could  see  plain  as  anything.  There 
had  been  nothing  for  Mrs.  Freshett  to  do  all  afternoon, 
so  she  had  gone  over  to  visit  an  hour  with  Amanda  Deam. 
Now  Mr.  Pryor  probably  thought  father  would  meet 
him  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  read  a  passage  about 
loving  your  neighbour  as  yourself.  I'll  bet  anything  you 
can  mention  that  he  never  expected  to  find  himself  look- 
ing straight  down  the  barrel  of  a  shining  big  rifle  when 
that  door  swung  open.  It  surprised  him  so,  he  staggered, 
and  his  arm  wavered.  If  he  had  shot  and  hit  anything 
then,  it  would  have  been  an  accident. 

"Got  you  over  the  heart,"  said  father,  in  precisely 
the  same  voice  he  always  said,  "This  is  a  fine  day  we 
are  having."  "Now  why  are  you  coming  here  in  such 
shape?"  This  was  a  little  cross.  "I'm  not  the  man  to 
cringe  before  you!"     This  was  quite  boastful.     "You'll 


528  LADDIE 

get  bullet  for  bullet,  if  you  attempt  to  invade  my  house 
with  a  gun."  This  pinged  as  if  father  shot  words  in- 
stead of  bullets. 

"I  want  my  daughter  to  come  home,'*  said  Mr.  Pryor. 
"And  if  you're  sheltering  the  thief  she  is  trying  to  hide, 
yield  him  up,  if  you  would  save  yourself." 

"Well,  I'm  not  anxious  about  dying,  with  the  family  I 
have  on  my  hands,  neighbour,"  said  father,  his  rifle  holding 
without  a  waver,  "but  unless  you  put  away  that  weapon, 
and  listen  to  reason,  you  cannot  enter  my  house.  Calm 
yourself,  man,  and  hear  what  there  is  to  be  said !  Examine 
the  proof,  that  is  here  waiting  to  be  offered  to  you." 

"Once  and  but  once,  send  them  out,  or  I'll  enter  over 
you!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor. 

"Sorry,"  said  father,  "but  if  only  a  muscle  of  your 
trigger  finger  moves,  you  fall  before  I  do.  I've  the  best 
range,  and  the  most  suitable  implement  for  the  work." 

"Implement  for  the  work!"  Well,  what  do  you  think 
of  father?  Any  one  who  could  not  see,  to  have  heard 
him,  would  have  thought  he  was  talking  about  a  hoe. 
We  saw  a  shadow  before  we  knew  what  made  it;  then,  a 
little  at  a  time,  wonderingly,  her  jolly  face  a  bewildered 
daze,  her  mouth  slowly  opening,  Mrs.  Freshett,  half-bent 
and  peering,  stooped  under  Mr.  Pryor's  arm  and  looked 
in  our  door.  She  had  come  back  to  help  get  supper,  and 
because  the  kitchen  was  locked,  she  had  gone  around  the 
house  to  see  if  she  could  get  in  at  the  front.  What  she 
saw  closed  her  mouth,  and  straightened  her  back. 

"Why,  you  two  old  fools I"  she  cried.  "If  ye  ain't 
drawed  a  bead  on  each  other!" 


Well,  if  you  two  ain't  drawed  a  bead  on  each  other" 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  5*9 

None  of  us  saw  her  do  it.  We  only  knew  after  it  was 
over  what  must  have  happened.  She  had  said  she'd 
risk  her  life  for  mother.  She  never  stopped  an  instant 
when  her  chance  came.  She  must  have  turned,  and 
thrown  her  big  body  against  Mr.  Pryor.  He  was  tired, 
old,  and  shaking  with  anger.  They  went  down  together, 
she  gripping  his  right  wrist  with  both  hands,  and  she 
was  strong  as  most  men.  Father  set  the  gun  beside  the 
door,  and  bent  over  them.  A  minute  more  and  he  handed 
the  revolver  to  Leon,  and  helped  Mrs.  Freshett  to  her 
feet.  Mr.  Pryor  lay  all  twisted  on  the  walk,  his  face  was 
working,  and  what  he  said  was  a  stiff  jabber  no  one  could 
understand.  He  had  broken  into  the  pieces  we  often 
feared  he  would. 

Robert  and  Laddie  came  running  to  help  father  carry 
him  in,  and  lay  him  on  the  couch. 

"I  hope,  Miss  Stanton,"  said  Mrs.  Freshett,  "that 
I  wa'n't  too  rough  with  him.  He  was  so  shaky-like, 
I  was  'feered  that  thing  would  go  off  without  his  really 
makin'  it,  and  of  course  I  couldn't  see  none  of  yourn 
threatened  with  a  deadly  weepon,  'thout  buttin'  in  and 
doin'  the  best  I  could." 

Mother  put  her  arms  around  her  as  far  as  they  would 
reach.  She  would  have  had  to  take  her  a  side  at  a  time 
to  really  hug  all  of  her,  and  she  said:  "Mrs.  Freshett, 
you  are  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  this  day. 
Undoubtedly  you  have  kept  us  from  a  fearful  tragedy; 
possibly  you  have  saved  my  husband  for  me.  None  of 
us  ever  can  thank  you  enough." 

"Loosen  his  collar  and  give  him  air,"  said  Mrs.  Freshett 


530  LADDIE 

pushing  mother  away.     "I  think  likely  he  has  bust  a 
blood  vessel." 

Father  sent  Leon  flying  to  bring  Dr.  Fenner.  Laddie 
took  the  carriage  and  he  and  Robert  went  after  Mrs. 
Pryor,  while  father,  mother,  Mrs.  Freshett,  the  Princess, 
May,  and  I,  every  last  one,  worked  over  Mr.  Pryor. 
We  poured  hot  stuff  down  his  throat,  put  warm  things 
around  him,  and  rubbed  him  until  the  sweat  ran  on  us, 
trying  to  get  his  knotted  muscles  straightened  out.  When 
Dr.  Fenner  came  he  said  we  were  doing  all  he  could; 
maybe  Mr.  Pryor  would  come  to  and  be  all  right,  and  may- 
be his  left  side  would  be  helpless  forever;  it  was  a  stroke. 
Seemed  to  me  having  Mrs.  Freshett  come  against  you 
like  that,  could  be  called  a  good  deal  more  than  a  stroke, 
but  I  couldn't  think  of  the  right  word  then.  And  after 
all,  perhaps  stroke  was  enough.  He  couldn't  have  been 
much  worse  off  if  the  barn  had  fallen  on  him.  I  didn't 
think  there  was  quite  so  much  of  Mrs.  Freshett;  but  then 
she  was  scared,  and  angry;  and  he  was  about  ready  to 
burst,  all  by  himself,  if  no  one  had  touched  him.  He  had 
much  better  have  stayed  at  home  and  listened  to  what 
was  to  be  said,  reasonably,  like  father  would;  and  then  if 
he  really  had  to  shoot,  he  would  have  been  in  some  kind 
of  condition  to  take  aim. 

After  a  long  hard  fight  we  got  him  limber,  straightened 
out,  and  warm,  it  didn't  rip  so  when  he  breathed,  then 
they  put  him  in  the  parlour  on  the  big  davenport.  Leon 
said  if  the  sparkin'  bench  didn't  bring  him  to,  nothing 
would.  Laddie  sat  beside  him  and  mother  kept  peeping. 
She  wouldn't  let  Dr.  Fenner  go,  because  she  said  Mr. 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  531 

Pryor  just  must  come  out  of  it  right,  and  have  a  few  years 
of  peace  and  happiness. 

Mrs.  Pryor  came  back  with  Laddie  and  Robert.  He 
carried  her  in,  put  her  in  the  big  rocking  chair  again,  and 
he  sat  beside  her,  stroking  and  kissing  her,  while  she  held 
him  with  both  hands.  You  could  see  now  why  his  mother 
couldn't  sleep,  walked  the  road,  and  held  her  hands  over 
her  heart.  She  was  a  brave  woman,  and  she  had  done 
well  to  keep  alive  and  going  in  any  shape  at  all.  You  see 
we  knew.  There  had  been  only  the  few  hours  when  it 
seemed  possible  that  one  of  our  boys  had  taken  father's 
money  and  was  gone.  I  well  remembered  what  happened 
to  our  mother  then.  And  if  she  had  been  disgraced  before 
every  one,  dragged  from  her  home  away  across  a  big  sea  to 
live  among  strangers,  and  not  known  where  her  boy  was 
for  years,  I'm  not  a  bit  sure  that  she'd  have  done  better 
than  Mrs.  Pryor.  Yes,  she  would  too;  come  to  think  it 
out — she'd  have  kept  on  believing  the  Lord  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it,  and  that  He'd  fix  it  some  way;  and  I 
know  she  and  father  would  have  held  hands  no  matter 
what  happened  or  where  they  went.  I  guess  the  biggest 
thing  the  matter  with  Pryors  was  that  they  didn't  know 
how  to  go  about  loving  each  other  right;  maybe  it  was  be- 
cause they  didn't  love  God,  so  they  couldn't  know  ex- 
actly what  proper  love  was;  because  God  is  love,  like 
father  said. 

Mrs.  Pryor  didn't  want  to  see  Mr.  Pryor — I  can't 
get  used  to  calling  them  Paget — and  she  didn't  ask  any- 
thing about  him.  I  guess  she  was  pretty  mad  at  him. 
She  never  had  liked  the  Emmet  cousin,  and  she'd  had 


532  LADDIE 

nothing  but  trouble  with  him  all  the  time  he  had  been 
in  her  family,  and  then  that  awful  disgrace,  that  she 
always  thought  was  all  him,  but  she  couldn't  prove  it, 
and  she  had  no  money. 

That's  a  very  bad  thing.  A  woman  should  always 
have  some  money.  She  works  as  hard  as  any  one,  and 
usually  she  has  more  that  worries  her,  so  it's  only  fair 
for  her  to  have  part  of  what  the  work  and  worry  bring. 
Mother  always  has  money.  Why,  she  has  so  much, 
she  can  help  father  out  when  he  is  pushed  with  bills,  as 
she  did  last  fall,  to  start  Shelley  to  music  school.  It's 
no  way  to  be  forced  to  live  with  a  man,  just  to  get  a  home, 
food,  and  clothing.  I  don't  believe  mother  ever  would 
do  it  in  all  this  world.  But  then  mother  has  worked  all 
her  life,  and  so  if  father  doesn't  do  as  she  wants  him  to, 
she'd  know  exactly  how  to  go  about  taking  care  of  herself. 

After  all  Mrs.  Pryor  didn't  need  to  sit  back  on  her 
dignity  and  look  so  abused.  He  couldn't  knock  her 
down,  and  drag  her  clear  here.  Why  didn't  she  say  right 
out,  in  the  beginning,  that  her  son  couldn't  be  a  thief, 
that  she  knew  it,  and  she'd  stay  at  home  and  wait  for 
him  to  come  back?  She  could  have  put  a  piece  in  the 
paper  saying  she  knew  her  boy  was  all  right,  and  for  him 
to  come  back,  so  they  could  go  to  work  and  prove  it. 
I  bet  if  she'd  had  one  tenth  of  the  ginger  mother  has, 
she'd  have  stopped  the  whole  fuss  in  the  start.  I  looked 
at  her  almost  steadily,  trying  to  figure  out  just  what 
mother  would  have  done  in  her  place.  Maybe  I'm  mis- 
taken about  exactly  how  she  would  have  set  to  work,  but 
this  I  know:  she'd  have  stuck  to  the  Lord;  she'd  have 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  533 

loved  father,  so  dearly,  he  just  couldn't  have  wanted  her 
to  do  things  that  hurt  her  until  it  gave  her  heart  trouble; 
and  she  never,  never  would  have  given  up  one  of  us,  and 
sat  holding  her  heart  for  months,  refusing  to  see  or  to 
speak  to  any  one,  while  she  waited  for  some  one  else  to  do 
something.  Mother  never  waits.  She  always  thinks  a 
minute,  if  she's  in  doubt  she  asks  father;  if  he  can't  decide, 
both  of  them  ask  God;  and  then  you  ought  to  see  things 
begin  to  fly. 

The  more  I  watched  Mrs.  Pryor,  the  more  I  began  to 
think  she  was  a  lady;  and  just  about  when  I  was  sure 
that  was  what  ailed  her,  I  heard  father  say:  "Perhaps 
the  lady  would  like  a  cup  of  tea."  I  had  a  big  notion  to 
tell  her  to  come  on,  and  I  would  show  her  where  the 
cannister  was,  but  I  thought  I  better  not.  I  wanted  to, 
though.  She'd  have  felt  much  better  if  she  had  got  up 
and  worked  like  the  rest  of  us.  With  all  the  excitement, 
and  everything  happening  at  once,  you'd  have  thought 
motherwould  be  flat  on  her  back,  but  flat  nothing!  Every- 
thing was  picked  up  and  slid  back,  fast  as  it  was  torn  down; 
she  found  time  to  flannel  her  nose  and  brush  her  hair, 
her  collar  was  straight,  and  the  goldstone  pin  shone  in 
the  light,  while  her  starched  white  apron  fluttered  as 
she  went  through  the  doors.  She  said  a  few  words  to 
Candace  and  Mrs.  Freshett,  May  took  out  a  linen  cloth 
and  began  to  set  places  for  all  the  grown  people,  so  I 
knew  there'd  be  strawberry  preserves  and  fried  ham,  but 
in  all  that,  would  you  ever  have  thought  that  she'd  find 
a  second  to  make  biscuit,  and  tea  cakes  herself?  Plain 
as  preaching  I  heard  her  say  to  Mrs.  Freshett:     "I  do 


534  LADDIE 

hope  and  pray  that  Mr.  Pryor  will  come  out  of  it  right, 
so  we  can  take  him  home,  and  teach  him  to  behave  him- 
self; but  if  he's  gone  this  minute,  I  intend  to  have  another 
decent  meal  for  Shelley  to  offer  her  young  man;  and  I 
don't  care  if  I  show  Mrs.  Pryor  that  we're  not  hungry  over 
here,  if  we  do  lack  servants  to  carry  in  food  on  silver 
platters." 

"That  I  jest  would!"  said  Mrs.  Freshett.  "Even  if 
he  turns  up  his  toes,  'tain't  your  funeral,  thank  the  Lord! 
an'  looky  here,  I'd  jest  as  soon  set  things  in  a  bake  pan 
an'  pass  'em  for  you,  myself.  I'll  do  it,  if  you  say  the 
word." 

Mother  bit  her  lip,  and  fought  her  face  to  keep  it 
straight,  as  she  said  confidential-like:  "No,  I'm  not 
going  to  toady  to  her.  I  only  want  her  to  see  that  a  meal 
really  consists  of  food  after  all;  I  don't  mind  putting  my 
best  foot  foremost,  but  I  won't  ape  her." 

"Huccome  they  to  fuss  like  this,  peaceable  as  Mr. 
Stanton  be,  an'  what's  Shelley's  beau  to  them?" 

"I  should  think  you  could  tell  by  looking  at  Pryors," 
said  mother.  "He's  their  mystery,  and  also  their  son. 
Shelley  met  him  in  Chicago,  he  came  here  to  see  her,  and 
ran  right  into  them.  I'll  tell  you  about  it  before  you  go. 
Now,  I  must  keep  these  applications  hot,  for  I've  set  my 
head  on  pulling  Mr.  Pryor  out  so  that  he  can  speak,  and 
have  a  few  decent  years  of  life  yet." 

"But  why  did  the  old  devil — ^x-cuse  me,  I  mean  the 
old  gentleman,  want  to  shoot  your  man  ? " 

"He  didn't!  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  after  they're 
gone." 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  535 

"I  bet  you  don't  get  shet  of  them  the  night,"  said  Mrs. 
Freshett. 

"All  right!"  said  mother.  "Whatever  Dr.  Fenner 
thinks.  I  won't  have  Mr.  Pryor  moved  until  it  can't 
hurt  him,  if  he  stays  a  week.  I  blame  her  quite  as  much 
as  I  do  him;  from  what  I  know.  If  a  woman  is  going 
to  live  with  a  man,  there  are  times  when  she's  got  to  put 
her  foot  down — flat — most  unmercifully  flat!" 

"Ain't  she  though!"  said  Mrs.  Freshett;  then  she  and 
mother  just  laughed. 

There!  What  did  I  tell  you?  I  feel  as  good  as  if 
father  had  patted  me  on  the  head  and  bragged  on  me 
a  lot.  I  thought  mother  wouldn't  think  that  Mr.  Pryor 
was  all  to  blame,  and  she  didn't.  I  figured  that  out  by 
myself,  too. 

Every  minute  Mr.  Pryor  grew  better.  He  breathed 
easier,  and  mother  tilted  on  her  toes  and  waved  her  hands, 
when  he  moved  his  feet,  threw  back  his  head,  lifted  his 
hand  to  it,  and  acted  like  he  was  almost  over  it,  and  still 
in  shape  to  manage  himself.  She  hurried  to  tell  Mrs. 
Pryor,  and  I  know  mother  didn't  like  it  when  she  never 
even  said  she  was  glad,  or  went  to  see  for  herself. 

Laddie  and  the  Princess  watched  him,  while  every  one 
else  went  to  supper.  Laddie  picked  up  Mrs.  Pryor's 
chair,  carried  her  to  the  dining-room,  and  set  her  in  my 
place  beside  father.  He  placed  Dr.  Fenner  next  her,  and 
left  Robert  to  sit  with  Shelley.  I  don't  think  Mrs.  Pryor 
quite  liked  that,  but  no  one  asked  her. 

I  watched  and  listened  until  everything  seemed  to  be 
going  right  there,  and  then  I  slipped  into  the  parlour, 


536  LADDIE 

where  Laddie  and  the  Princess  were  caring  for  Mr.  Pryor. 
With  one  hand  Laddie  held  hers,  the  other  grasped  Mr. 
Pryor's  wrist.  Laddie  never  took  his  eyes  from  that 
white,  drawn  face,  except  to  smile  at  her,  and  squeeze 
her  hand  every  little  while.  At  last  Mr.  Pryor  turned 
over  and  sighed,  pretty  soon  he  opened  his  eyes,  and 
looked  at  Laddie,  then  at  the  Princess,  and  it  was  nothing 
new  to  see  them,  so  he  smiled  and  dozed  again.  After  a 
while  he  opened  them  wider,  then  he  saw  the  piano — 
that  was  an  eye-opener  for  any  one — and  the  strange 
room,  so  he  asked,  most  as  plain  as  he  ever  talked,  why  he 
was  at  our  house  again,  and  then  he  began  to  remember. 
He  struggled  to  sit  up  and  the  colour  came  into  his  face. 
So  Laddie  let  go  the  Princess,  and  held  him  down  while 
he  said:  "Mr.  Pryor,  answer  me  this.  Do  you  want  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  your  life  in  an  invalid's  chair, 
or  would  you  like  to  walk  abroad  and  sit  a  horse  again  ? " 

He  glared  at  Laddie,  but  he  heard  how  things  were 
plainly  enough.  Laddie  held  him,  while  he  explained 
what  a  fight  we  had  to  unlock  his  muscles,  and  start 
him  going  again,  and  how,  if  we  hadn't  loved  him,  and 
wanted  him  so,  and  had  left  him  untouched  until  the 
Doctor  came,  very  likely  he'd  have  been  paralyzed  all 
the  rest  of  his  life,  if  he  hadn't  died;  and  he  said  he  wished 
he  had,  and  he  didn't  thank  any  one  for  saving  him. 

"Oh  yes  you  do!"  said  Laddie,  the  same  as  he'd  have 
talked  to  Leon.  "You  can't  stuff  me  on  that,  and  you 
needn't  try.  Being  dead  is  a  cold,  clammy  proposition, 
that  all  of  us  put  off  as  long  as  we  can.  You  know  you 
want  to  see  Pamela  in  her  own  home.     You  know  you 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  537 

are  interested  in  how  I  come  out  with  those  horses.  You 
know  you  want  the  little  people  you  spoke  of,  around  you. 
You  know  the  pain  and  suspense  you  have  borne  have 
almost  driven  you  insane,  and  it  was  because  you  cared  so 
deeply.  Now  lie  still,  and  keep  quiet!  All  of  us  are  tired 
and  there's  no  sense  in  making  us  go  through  this  again, 
besides  the  risk  of  crippling  yourself  that  you  run.  Right 
here  in  this  house  are  the  papers  to  prove  that  your 
nephew  took  your  money,  and  hid  it  in  your  son's  clothing, 
as  he  already  had  done  a  hundred  lesser  things,  before, 
purposely  to  estrange  you.  Hold  steady!  You  must 
hear  this!  The  sooner  you  know  it,  the  better  you'll 
feel.  You  remember,  don't  you,  that  before  your  nephew 
entered  your  home,  you  idolized  your  son.  You  thought 
the  things  he  did  were  amusing.  A  boy  is  a  boy,  and  if 
he's  alive,  he's  very  apt  to  be  lively.  Mother  could 
tell  you  a  few  pranks  that  Leon  has  put  us  through;  but 
they're  only  a  boy's  foolishness,  they  are  not  unusual  or 
unforgivable.  I've  gone  over  the  evidence  your  son 
brings,  with  extreme  care,  so  has  father.  Both  of  us  are 
quite  familiar  with  common  law.  He  has  every  proof 
you  can  possibly  desire.  You  can't  get  around  it,  even 
if  your  heart  wasn't  worn  out  with  rebellion,  and  you 
were  not  crazy  to  have  the  loving  sympathy  of  your 
family  again." 

"  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it ! " 

"You  have  got  to!  I  tell  you  it  is  proof,  man!  The 
documents  are  in  this  house  now." 

"He  forged  them,  or  stole  them,  as  he  took  the  money!" 

Laddie  just  laughed. 


538  LADDIE 

"How  you  do  long,  and  fight,  to  be  convinced!"  he 
said.  "I  don't  blame  you!  When  anything  means  this 
much,  of  course  you  must  be  sure.  But  you'll  know 
your  nephew's  signature;  also  your  lawyer's.  You'll 
know  letters  from  old  friends  who  are  above  question. 
Sandy  McSheel  has  written  you  that  he  was  with  Robert 
through  all  of  it,  and  he  gives  you  his  word  that  every- 
thing is  all  right.     You  will  believe  him,  won't  you?" 

Big  tears  began  to  squeeze  from  under  Mr.  Pryor's 
lids,  until  Laddie  and  the  Princess  each  tried  to  see  how 
much  of  him  they  could  hold  to  keep  him  together-like. 

"Tell  me!"  he  said  at  last,  so  they  took  turns  explaining 
everything  plain  as  day,  and  soon  he  listened  without 
being  held.  When  they  had  told  him  everything  they 
could  think  of,  he  asked :     "  Did  Robert  kill  Emmet  ? " 

"I  am  very  happy  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  he  did  not. 
It  would  have  been  painful,  and  not  helped  a  bad  matter 
a  particle.  Your  nephew  had  dissipated  until  he  was 
only  a  skeleton  just  breathing  his  last.  It's  probable 
that  his  fear  of  death  helped  your  son  out,  so  that  he 
got  the  evidence  he  wanted  easier  than  he  hoped  to  in 
the  beginning.  I  don't  mean  that  he  is  dead  now;  but 
he  is  passing  slowly,  and  loathsomely.  Robert  thinks 
word  that  he  has  gone  will  come  any  hour.  Think  how 
pleasant  it  will  be  to  have  your  son!  Think  how  happy 
your  home  will  be  now!  Think  how  you  will  love  to  see 
Sandy,  and  all  your  old  friends!  Think  how  glad  you'll 
be  to  go  home,  and  take  charge  of  your  estate!" 

"Think!"  cried  Mr.  Pryor,  pushing  Laddie  away  and 
sitting  up:     "Think  how  I  shall  enjoy  wringing  the  last 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  539 

drop  of  blood  from  that  craven's  body  with  these  old 
hands!" 

What  a  sight  he  did  look  to  be  sure!  Sick,  half-crazy, 
on  the  very  verge  of  the  grave  himself,  and  wanting  to 
kill  a  poor  man  already  dying.  Aren't  some  people  too 
curious  ? 

Laddie  carefully  laid  him  down,  straightened  him  out 
and  held  him  again.  Mother  always  said  he  was  "patient 
as  Job,"  and  that  day  it  proved  to  be  a  good  thing. 

"You're  determined  to  keep  yourself  well  supplied  with 
trouble,"  laughed  Laddie.  I  don't  believe  any  one  else 
would  have  dared.  "Now  to  an  unbiased  observer,  it 
would  seem  that  you'd  be  ready  to  let  well  enough  alone. 
You  have  ycur  son  back,  you  have  him  fully  exonerated, 
you  have  much  of  your  property,  you  are  now  ready  for 
freedom,  life,  and  love,  with  the  best  of  us;  you  have  also 
two  weddings  on  your  hands  in  the  near  future.  Why  in 
the  name  of  sense  are  you  anxious  for  more?" 

"I  should  have  thought  that  Sandy  McSheel,  if  he's 
a  real  friend  of  mine " 

"Sandy  tells  you  all  about  it  in  the  letter  he  has  sent. 
He  went  with  Robert  fully  intending  to  do  that  very 
thing  for  you,  but  the  poor  creature  was  too  loathsome. 
The  sight  of  him  made  Sandy  sick.  He  writes  you  that 
when  he  saw  the  horrible  spectacle,  all  he  could  think  of 
was  to  secure  the  evidence  needed  and  get  away." 

Suddenly  the  Princess  arose  and  knelt  beside  the  daven- 
port. She  put  her  arms  around  her  father's  neck  and 
drew  his  wrinkled,  white  old  face  up  against  her  lovely 
one. 


540  LADDIE 

"Daddy!  Dear  old  Daddy!"  she  cried.  "I've  had 
such  a  hard  spot  in  my  heart  against  you  for  so  long.  Oh 
do  let's  forget  everything,  and  begin  all  over  again;  begin 
away  back  where  we  were  before  Emmet  ever  came.  Oh 
Daddy,  do  let's  forget,  and  begin  all  over  new,  like  other 
people!" 

He  held  her  tight  a  minute,  then  his  lips  began  whisper- 
ing against  her  ear.  Finally  he  said:  "Take  yourselves 
off,  and  send  Robert  here.  I  want  my  son.  Oh  I  want 
my  boy!" 

It  was  a  long  time  before  Robert  came  from  the  parlour; 
when  he  did,  it  was  only  to  get  his  mother  and  take  her 
back  with  him;  then  it  was  a  still  longer  time  before  the 
door  opened;  but  when  it  did,  it  was  perfectly  sure  that 
they  were  all  friends  again.  Then  Leon  went  to  tell 
Thomas,  and  he  came  with  the  big  carriage.  White  and 
shaking,  Mr.  Pryor  was  lifted  into  it  and  they  went  home 
together,  taking  Shelley  with  them  to  stay  that  night; 
so  no  doubt  she  was  proposed  to  and  got  her  kiss  before 
she  slept. 

That  fall  there  were  two  weddings  at  our  church  at 
the  same  time.  Sally's  had  been  fine;  but  it  wasn't  worth 
mentioning  beside  Laddie  and  the  Princess,  and  Robert 
and  Shelley.  You  should  have  seen  my  mother!  She 
rocked  like  a  kingbird  on  the  top  twig  of  the  winesap, 
which  was  the  tallest  tree  in  our  orchard,  and  for  once 
there  wasn't  a  single  fly  in  her  ointment,  not  one,  she 
said  so  herself,  and  so  did  father.  As  we  watched  the 
big  ve-hi-ackle,  as  Leon  called  it,  creep  slowly  down  the 
Little  Hill,   it  made  me  think  of  that  pathetic  poem, 


THE  PRYOR  MYSTERY  541 

"The  Three  Warnings,"  in  McGuffey's  Sixth.  I  guess 
I  gave  Mr.  Pryor  the  first,  that  time  he  got  so  angry  he 
hit  his  horse  until  it  almost  ran  away.  Mother  delivered 
the  second  when  she  curry-combed  him  about  the  taxes, 
and  Mrs.  Freshett  finished  the  job.  The  last  two  lines 
read  as  if  they  had  been  especially  written  about  him: 

"And  now  old  Dodson,  turning  pale, 
Yields  to  his  fate — so  ends  my  tale." 


THE    END 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS 
GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


